Tommy's Turmoil
by Nixton
Summary: The Pickles pool is finally finished, and the gang has a little pool party to celebrate. But during the party, something happens that sets events into motion and changes things forever. Romance, friendship, family, and conflict abound.
1. Guess What? The Pool's Almost Done

"Good news everyone." Stu says with a big smile as he enters the kitchen for breakfast. Tommy, Dil, and Didi were all sitting at the table already eating their breakfast.

"Martin Costomiris is planning a surprise viewing of his latest film here in the city?" Tommy excitedly asks.

"Nope." He smiles, shaking his head.

"The new Lipschitz book _From Tweens to Teens_ is coming out today?" Didi happily asks.

"Uh, no." He replies, his smile fading.

"Our alien brethren have moved into that house that's for sale two blocks over and their children are going to attend school with us?" Dil enthusiastically asks.

"No." He says, with a frown and slumped shoulders. He quickly gets happy again. "I just spoke to the contractor and he said that the pool will be completed and ready for use this Friday."

"Alright!" Tommy exclaims, standing up, doing a fist pump.

"Sweet!" Dil joins him, standing on his chair, giving him a fist bump as they dance in place.

"That's wonderful news." Didi smiles. "It's been quite some time since they started it. It's nice to know they're finally finishing it, especially after we managed to get through the legal issues of the damages to the house."

"Mom, dad, do you think it'd be alright if we throw a little pool party with our friends this Friday to celebrate it's completion?" Tommy pleads with them, clasping his hands together. "Please."

"Yeah, come on. Please." Dil joins in on the begging.

"I don't know." Didi begins. "Your father and I are leaving early on Friday and will be gone all weekend at the inventors convention."

"That's fine. We'll be inviting Susie so she can be like the babysitter or lifeguard or something." Tommy quickly says. "She is a certified lifeguard I believe."

"And the pool party could double as a sleepover." Dil adds. "That way, you know, T and I won't be alone in the house on Friday at least."

"Quick thinking D." Tommy whispers to him.

"Same to you T." He whispers back.

"Come on Deed, I think they deserve a chance to look after themselves for one measly weekend." Stu comes to his sons side. Didi thinks about it for a few moments. "I think a ten and eleven year old are old enough to be responsible for themselves."

"Oh, alright." She concedes. "But I'll ask Betty and Howard to come check on you to make sure you're doing alright."

"Yes!" Tommy and Dil celebrate at the same time, fist bumping again.

"Hey dad, what invention are you showing off this time?" Dil inquires as they get back to their breakfast.

"I'm glad you asked Dil." He opens up a drawer and pulls out a pair green earmuffs with a small antenna sticking out of it. "Tada. I call it the Pickles Complete Silence Sleepmuffs." He puts them on and begins yelling, making everyone, including Spike and Spiffy, to cover their ears. "POP THESE PUPPIES ON AND YOU'LL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO HEAR ANYTHING WELL BEYOND THE HUMANS RANGE FOR HEARING, FROM 20 HERTZ TO WELL BEYOND 20,000 HERTZ! AND IT PROTECTS AGAINST SOUNDS UP TO 300 DECIBELS!" Didi gets up and takes the things off of him, glaring at him. He smiles and sheepishly laughs. "Oops."

"Wow dad, I think you just lowered my range to just 2,000 hertz with your 200 decibel voice." Tommy jokes, twisting his finger in his ear, trying to regain hearing in it. Dil plugs his nose, shoving a finger up each nostril, and blows through his nose, feeling his ears pop and regaining his hearing.

"Don't they already have earmuffs to wear for sleeping?" Dil asks, his fingers still up his nose.

"Of course, but none that block out and protect against such an extensive range of sound as mine do, nor do any others have the additional features that these do." He twists off the side of the right ear piece to reveal a screen with buttons surrounding it. "With these you'll be able to connect them wirelessly to the doorbell, a home security system, even connect to your alarm clock so you won't miss it while blocking out all other noise."

"Can I connect it to my computer, or perhaps a portable music player? And wouldn't it be easier just to have an internal alarm clock?" Tommy asks.

"Huh, I never thought of that."

"Trust me, if you fix them up to be able to do that, you'd be able to sell them as more than just a sleep aid dad. They'd become the perfect head phones as well."

"Yeah. Put a microphone in it and I could use them to search for and possibly communicate with any local alien activity with no outside noise to disrupt my concentration." Dil muses with that use.

"Yes, and I could also hook it up with the phone as well, so you'd be able to hear it ring and answer it all without getting out of bed." Stu smiles. "These are great ideas boys. I've got a lot of work to do before Friday." He downs his cup of coffee, burning his tongue in the process, downing a glass of milk to soothe the pain before racing off down into the basement.

"You two better finish up your breakfast, the bus will be here soon." Didi tells them, taking her dirty dishes over to the sink.

"This is so totally awesome." Dil exclaims, finishing up his own breakfast.

"Tell me about it D." Tommy says, bursting with anticipation, also finishing breakfast. "Not only are we having a pool party this Friday, but we get the whole house to ourselves for the whole weekend." They both get up and grab their backpacks. "Later mom."

"Adios madre."

"Bye dears. Have fun at school." She calls out to them. They get outside and start heading to the bus stop. As if by clockwork Phil and Lil come walking out of their house, joining them on their short walk to the bus stop.

"First of all, ew." Lil says to her brother. "And second of all, there's no way you'd be able to shoot a jellybean out of your nose further than I could." Phil holds up his hand, a bag of jellybeans sitting in it.

"Well than Lillian, why don't you put your nose where your mouth is." He goads her.

"Didn't she already embarrass you once by managing to spit all the way across the road, further than you could Phil?" Tommy questions with a smile.

"Yeah, I remember that." Dil chuckles. "She made you her personal slave for a whole week after losing that bet."

"She only won that one because she's got a bigger mouth." Phil laughs. Lil playfully elbows him in the ribs. "But my nasal passages are narrower, allowing for maximum distance and smellage."

"I'm surprised they're not wider than the Grand Canyon with how often you stick your finger up there." Lil jibes, Phil pausing in the middle of picking his nose, removing his finger, wiping it on his pants. They all share a laugh as they reach the corner, Chuckie and Kimi meeting up with them at the bus stop.

"What's so funny guys?" Chuckie asks.

"Phil here is challenging Lil to another distance contest. This time it's a jellybean from the nose." Dil explains.

"Oh sweet, Phil being your personal slave for another week sounds delightful." Kimi muses. "Getting a foot massage while just laying out in the sun, drinking a smoothie, giggling as we talk about what embarrassing thing to make him do next."

"Speaking of soaking up sun." Tommy interjects. "Our pool is finally going to be finished and be ready for use this Friday, and we're throwing a pool party." They all start buzzing with excitement.

"So, that pathetic excuse for a pool is just about done huh?" Angelica's voice rings out as she approaches the group, crossing her arms. "You weren't thinking about excluding your coolest and most favorite cousin from your little party now were you?"

"The thought had crossed my mind." Tommy dryly says. She scowls at him.

"Angelica, please placid you pickled prune." Dil steps forward, talking in a calming manner. "It wouldn't precisely be placed as a Pickles pool party if we pushed a Pickles off the plank."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Phil whispers to Lil, both snickering. Angelica gives Dil a strange look for a moment before smiling, satisfied, as the bus stopped by.

"Of course. It wouldn't be a party without my beauty and popularity to liven things up." She tells them as the gets on the bus.

"We got to go shopping for new bikini's." Kimi says to Lil as they sit down.

"Totally. I think it's about time I traded in my old one piece anyways. It's a little small for me now." Lil agrees.

"I told you not to go for that third cookie last month, that it'd go straight to your thighs, but nooo you didn't want to listen me." Phil jokes. Sitting behind him, Lil kicks his seat, causing him to jump. "And you better not forget the jellybeans. We have a score to settle."

"More like Lil's got a lead to increase." Kimi grins.

"Alright, if you're so insistent on losing _again_, we'll do it at the party." Lil accepts his challenge. "We'll set the terms then as well."

"That way no one cool from school sees you doing it, right?" Chuckie asks his rhetorical question.

"So who all exactly is coming to the party to watch Lil wallow in the pool in defeat." Phil asks Tommy, who is sitting next to Chuckie across the isle.

"Just the usual group." He shrugs. "You, Lil, Chuckie, Kimi, Dil, me, Angelica, thanks to Dil," He casts him a quick look, "and Susie." He then looks around the bus. "Speaking of Susie, where is she?"

"Didn't she have to go in early to rehearse for some assembly we're having today?" Chuckie asks.

"Right, they're having her sing some sort of song about fire safety or something like that." Lil informs them.

"At least it gets us out of class for an hour." Kimi shrugs, trying to see the bright side. "And better to have Susie sing than Angelica."

"I don't know about you guys, but this whole fire safety assembly thing seems just a little salmon to me. The whole thing is a conspiracy I tell ya." Dil states, narrowing his eyes, darting them back and forth.

"Salmon?" Tommy asks, holding in a laugh. "Do I even want to know?"

"Things are to strange here to be considered just fishy, so I upgraded to salmon."

"Strange is right." Phil remarks.

"Says the guy who let mold and fungus grow on his dirty socks for a science project." Lil adds.

"Which won first place, if you recall." He retorts. "And they were your socks."

"First clue; calling fire safe." Dil continues. "Everyone knows that fire is anything but safe. Why have a seminar on safe fire when fire isn't safe?"

"It may have something to do with how you set the copying machine on fire last month." Tommy deadpans. "Getting detention and being grounded for two weeks."

"I was trying to decode the hidden alien message in my mashed potatoes." He defends. "It's not my fault earth technology is too primitive to handle their signals." The others just laugh some and continue talking until they reach school.

"So it's a pool party and a sleepover. Awesome." Kimi surges. "When was the last time we all got together for a sleepover?"

"Four weeks and three days ago." Chuckie says.

"Couldn't you have just said a month?" Kimi teases.

"Huh, I suppose that is a month." Chuckie realizes, everyone laughing.

"Yeah, we played Mountain Man for so long the night rules kicked in." Lil recalls.

"That was kind of an unplanned one, and it was only the five of us." Tommy adds in.

"That's why we had so much fun." Phil says, stretching. "Angelica wasn't there."

"We better get headed to class before we're late." Lil says, as they all start to head inside to their lockers. Tommy spots Susie walking across the common area.

"I'll meet ya there, gotta go tell Susie about the party."

"Better hurry up T. If you're late again and get a detention, mom might ground ya and put a stop to our shared water aerobic extravaganza before it even starts." Dil warns him.

"I got ya D, I won't be late." He runs over to Susie, calling her name out to catch her attention.

"Hey Tommy, what's got you all huffy?" Susie greets him, raising an eyebrow with a smile.

"Stupid bag..." He breaths. "Must have put... too many books... in here..." He catches his breath. "Weighs like a ton of bricks."

"Uh huh. I'm sure you didn't 'race' on over here to talk about how heavy your bag is." She teases.

"And here I thought it was such a diverse and entertaining topic." They share a laugh and Tommy gets to the point. "Anyway, our pool is finally going to be fully operational this Friday so we're having a little pool party/sleepover to celebrate. And not to put pressure on you or anything, but unless you come, the party is a no go. Parents going out of town for the weekend. You know the drill."

"Sounds like fun. It'll be nice to get paid to relax by the pool for a weekend." She laughs.

"Yeah, you'll only be 'sitting' us for the pool party/sleepover. Dil and I get the whole house to ourselves for the rest of the weekend."

"So eleven years old is when your parents give you the responsibility to take care of yourself huh?" She asks.

"Sorry Susie. Looks like your best customers won't be needing your services anymore." He sympathetically puts his hand on her shoulder.

"That's okay. It's good to see they're trusting you with the house." Her smile gets wider. "However, nothing says I can't come over and keep an eye on you as a friend, while enjoying the new facilities." She grins.

"Yep. With the pool it seems like we're going to be doing a ton more hanging out at my house, especially once summer hits." The first bell rings, warning that class is going to start soon. "Shoot, sorry to cut our conversation short but I don't want to be late." And Tommy rushes off. "Catch you later!" He waves to her.

* * *

><p><p>

"Ugh, remind me again why _I _was dragged along to help you shop for new swim suits?" Tommy groans as Lil, Kimi, along with Susie, whom they decided needed a new swim suit as well, browse through different bikini options to try on. "The party isn't until Friday anyway and that's like, two days from now."

"Well for starters," Kimi begins from inside a changing room, "we wanted to give you a preview of how hot we're going to look at the party."

"Right, is this before or after my gag reflex kicks in?" He sarcastically asks. One of Kimi's boots comes flying over the top of the changing room door, barely missing him while he laughs, tossing it back over the door.

"Also," Lil continues, also in a changing room, "we need an impartial male judge to tell us whether or not our bikini's look good."

"And neither Phil nor Chuckie fell under this category because?"

"Ew, I don't want my brother telling me I look hot in something." Kimi gags. "Besides, my brother tends to be a bit overprotective and he'd probably try to sabotage me by saying the ugliest swim suit was the best one."

"Yeah, a brother isn't exactly an impartial judge to a sister." Lil agrees.

"I heard that." Susie adds in, taking half-a-dozen choices into a changing room with her. "And I got two of them."

"And you couldn't have dragged Dil along instead?" The movement within the changing rooms stops for a moment, all three of them silent, exchanging looks over the walls at each other. "Right, forget I asked." Lil steps out first, her bikini having horizontal black and white stripes on it.

"What do you think?" Lil asks.

"Black and white?" Tommy questions the choice. "You look like a zebra with that on. You need something more colorful to match your personality." She looks at her self in the mirror.

"Hmm, you're right. I need something with a little more color." She smiles.

"Besides, I thought girls tended to avoid horizontal stripes. You know, cause they tend to make you look fatter than you are." Lil's eyes go wide and she turns to him.

"He did not just say what I think he said." Susie says, stepping out in a grass green bikini, hands on her hips.

"I think he did." Kimi says in disbelief, stepping out in a bikini the same shade purple of her hair.

"Uh, did I just say one of those things that you're not supposed to say when girls are trying on clothes?" He nervously asks.

"I would suggest making a run for it, but you wouldn't make it out the door." Kimi grins, crossing her arms. All three of them slowly inch towards him, backing him into a corner, no way to escape.

"L-look, I'm sorry." He pleads. "I-I didn't know I wasn't supposed to say anything about horizontal stripes making you look fat." He saw the fire in Lil's eyes grow as he squeezed against the corner as tight as he could, the three of them only inches away, swallowing nervously.

"Boy," Susie says, before cracking up and bursting out laughing, Kimi and Lil joining her, a puzzled look plastered across Tommy's face. "You just fell for it big time." She laughs, bending over, holding her gut.

"You should have seen the look on you face." Lil manages out between spouts of laughter. "It was priceless." Tommy started blushing with embarrassment at being fooled.

"You looked liked you were going to pee your pants." Kimi squeaks out. Tommy pushes his blush down and grins.

"Alright, alright, you got me." He admits, raising his hands in defeat. "But fair warning Kimi, that bikini looks like you fashioned it from your own hair clippings." Kimi stops laughing and looks at herself in the mirror before feigning a gasp.

"You're right! It does look like that!" And she quickly gets back into her changing room to try on a different one. Lil retreats back to her own to try out a different one.

"And what smart thing do you have to say about mine?" Susie dares, raising her eyebrow with a grin.

"Do you know why some lawnmowers have that bag attached to the side of it?" Tommy asks her.

"Yeah, to collect the grass clippings." She knew where he was going with this.

"Well yours looks like it you emptied one of those bags out and made it from the clippings." He crosses his arms and just smiles.

"Looks like you were right Lil." She says, returning to her changing room. "He does have an affinity for fashion."

"Told ya." Lil gloats.

"What? I do not have an affinity for fashion." Tommy argues.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about." Kimi teases. "In fact, we just might have to bring you along again sometime when we're getting more than bikini's."

"And what makes you think I have an affinity for fashion? Or would want to spend a perfectly good afternoon critiquing whether or not this skirt goes with that shirt and blouse or those shoes, or if these earrings go with this necklace and whether or not to get a matching bracelet or pinky ring." Tommy rants. Lil steps out in a green bikini with some red flowers here and there on the top and bottom.

"I believe you just answered your own question." She lightly punches him in the arm. "So, what do you think?" She twirls around to show him.

"Looks a lot like your colorful one piece, except now your middle is showing. So it fits you." Tommy tells her.

"And again, his abilities once more shine through." Lil dramatically says. Tommy just rolls his eyes and shakes his head, smiling. Next to step out is Kimi and she's wearing an orange bikini with red straps and a red strip down both sides of the bottom. Lil goes to admire herself in one of the mirrors.

"Don't hold back Tommy. Tell me what you think." She strikes a few poses, winking at him, twirling around for him to see.

"Bright and vivid, and easy to get along with, just like you. It fits you perfectly." He critiques. He then lets out an audible groan. "Would you listen to the way I'm talking? It's like I'm some French fashion critique criticizing the clothing some runway model is wearing."

"So, you think we're runway models do you?" Kimi teases, giggling.

"No. No. That is not what I said." He defends, the girls giggling more.

"Relax Tommy." Susie tells him, stepping out in a sky blue bikini. "You've just discovered a new talent is all."

"Yeah," Lil assures him,"you're an ar_teest_, so it's only natural you have a taste for fashion."

"I'm a film director, not some fashion designer... but fine." Tommy sighs. "You win. I have a taste for fashion. Just don't go spreading it around."

"No promises." Kimi giggles, Susie and Lil joining. Susie looks at herself in the mirror, halfway facing him.

"Now be honest, is it too much?" She asks.

"I think it's a really calm, cool, collected color, fitting you perfectly." Tommy tells her, before groaning loudly again at the way he was talking.

"Well girls, looks like we got ourselves some new bikini's, and a new fashion consultant." Kimi happily declares and the three of them have a group hug, pulling Tommy with them, who groans.

"Hey!" A voice screeches, breaking up their group hug, and they turn to see Angelica. "What do you preteens think you're doing going bikini shopping without me?" She demands.

"Well, we invited Tommy along to help us pick out our bikini's." Susie explains to her, ignoring the fact that Angelica referred to her as a preteen as well, seeing as she's thirteen. "And it would be a little weird trying on different bikini's and showing them to your cousin, wouldn't you think?"

"I know I don't want to sit here and watch her parade herself around in different swimsuits, yelling at me to tell her she looks pretty. The three of you are already a big enough headache." He laughs.

"Hmph." She huffs. "Fine, who needs you preteens. I can choose my own by myself." With that she storms off to browse through the different bikini's.

"You guys go ahead." Susie tells them. "I'll stay here with the drama queen and try on a few more, see if there's anything I like better than this, but I doubt it." Kimi and Lil go back into their changing rooms and change back into their clothes and Susie goes join Angelica.

"Thank goodness." Tommy dramatically says. "The torture is finally over!" He drops to his knees, raising his hands in the air. "Hallelujah!"

"It's only over for today." Lil states, grabbing his collar and yanking him up.

"Oh no, it'll take a lot of coaxing and bribing to get me to do this again." He asserts, shaking his head. "Monuments built in my honor. Mountains being moved to locations of my desire. Renaming of cities to honor my amazing talents! Whole DAYS dedicated to yours truly!" He dramatically waves his arms around.

"How about I treat you to a smoothie at the Java Lava?" Kimi suggests, as the three of them go to the check out and Lil and Kimi buy their swim suits, making Tommy carry the bags, leaving the store and heading towards the food court.

"Make it seven and you got a deal."

"Seven smoothies it is." She extends her hand and they shake on it.

"Seven smoothies for three hours or so of our own personal fashion consultant? Now that's a good deal." Lil giggles, Kimi joining her. Tommy stops in his tracks, falling behind them, his jaw dropping and eyes going wide.

"Three hours?" He cries out. He catches up with them. "It took you only half an hour in there! What do you mean three hours?"

"That was only swimwear." Kimi grins. "We're talking skirts, shirts, blouses, shoes, purses, accessories, jeans. And three hours is a low estimate." Tommy groans again.

"What did I get myself into?" He sulks. Lil elbows him.

"Look at the bright side, you get to be the first to see us try out all sorts of new, cute outfits and see how hot we look in them." Lil smiles.

"I thought you weren't as into shopping as Kimi and Susie are." Tommy narrows his eyes at her.

"True, but that's because I'm more into sports." She shrugs. "Doesn't mean I don't enjoy shopping with them occasionally and looking pretty." Tommy then switches his gaze to Kimi.

"You tricked me." He mutters.

"How about I treat you to one of those smoothies right now." Kimi suggests.

"Uh uh, you said Java Lava smoothies, not mall smoothies. Mall smoothies are not Java Lava smoothies."

"Fine, then you'll just have to pay for your own." Lil smirks. He gives her a light glare.

"...Alright fine. But you're getting me a large green apple and strawberry smoothie, got it?" He tells Kimi, poking her with his finger.

"Whatever you say, osharena yūjin." Kimi laughs, osharena yūjin being Japanese for fashionable friend, Lil joining her.

"I don't know what that means, but I'm certain I don't like it." He groans again, prompting more giggles from the two girls on either side of him. He spots Phil and Chuckie sitting at a table, enjoying some chili cheese dogs and smoothies. Kimi goes off to buy the smoothies as Tommy and Lil join them at the table. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Just getting our chow on." Phil comments with his mouth full, bits of chili flying out.

"For the love of-." Lil says in disgust. "Must you talk with your mouth full Phil?"

"Of course." He replies with a light chuckle, more chili flying out. "It's much more efficient this way." Lil groans in disgust as the guys laugh.

"So Tommy, since when did you go out shopping with the girls?" Chuckie questions, sucking on his straw, pointing to the bags Tommy had set next to himself.

"Tommy was helpi-" Lil starts with a sly smile, Tommy quickly covering her mouth with his hands, granting strange looks from Phil and Chuckie.

"I was just, uh, walking with them because I just happened to, uh, run into them outside the clothing store and they made me carry their bags." He quickly lies with a wobbly grin and a sheepish laugh. Lil pinches the back of his hand, pulling it away from her, still smiling slyly.

"Right. We just _happened_ to run into him outside the store and _coaxed _him into carrying our bags because he's _such_ a good friend_._" She snickers. Tommy casts her a quick glare, both Chuckie and Phil lost but just shrug it off as Kimi comes over with their smoothies.

"Here you go, one green apple and strawberry smoothie, osharena yūjin." Kimi laughs, setting the smoothie down in front of him, sitting next to Lil and giving her hers. Again Tommy casts a quick glare, not understanding what she said but having a general idea, and again Chuckie and Phil are lost. "So is it awesome or what that your pool is finally going to be finished in just two more days." She says, changing the subject.

"I may have to sneak on over when no one is around and have the pool all to myself." Phil says. "Ah, the benefits of living next to a friend who has a pool." He reclines backwards, tipping his chair back. Lil kicks his chair, making him fall backwards.

"Not only is that illegal Phillip," Lil starts reprimanding him, "but I'd probably already be in the pool before you got there." Phil gets up, rubbing his head.

"Nuh uh Lillian. I'd be there first." He argues with her.

"No I would." She furrows her brow, leaning forward some.

"I would." He follows suit, leaning forward some. Tommy puts his hands in their faces, pushing them both back into their seats.

"Guys, no one is going to be the first one sneaking into my pool." He tells them both before smirking. "Cause you can hardly sneak into something that I'd already be in." They all laugh as Susie approaches, already having a smoothie in hand.

"Susie." Kimi greats. "How did the shopping go with Angelica?"

"There was this amazing white swimsuit with silver trimming that she found, but it was a size to large and there were none in her size." She joins the group at the table. "The straps kept sliding off and I told her to get something else but she refused to listen. I swear, that girl can be so stubborn sometimes." She sighs, shaking her head.

"And you're just now figuring this out?" Tommy sarcastically asks.

"What about you?" Lil asks. "Did you find anything better."

"I found a few good looking ones, but Tommy had it dead on." Susie says. Tommy starts waving his hands in front of himself, trying to signal her to stop. "That sky blue bikini fits me perfectly. It's calm, cool, and collected just like he said. He definitely knows fashion." Tommy face palms, his elbow on the table. Chuckie and Phil look at him incredulously.

"Met them outside the clothing store huh?" Chuckie says, smirking. Phil and Chuckie burst out laughing, Tommy blushing with embarrassment.

"Hey Tommy, do you think these shoes go good with these pants?" Phil asks, putting his foot on the table, him and Chuckie howling.

"Do you think my glasses compliment my outfit?" Chuckie asks, leaning over and banging on the table. Lil kicks Phil in the shin and Kimi knocks Chuckie in the back of the head, ceasing their laughter and both of them saying 'Ow', Phil retracting his foot from the table. "What was that for?"

"Rag on Tommy all you want, but with his newly discovered affinity for fashion he'll get to see us in all our new and cute outfits and see how hot we look before anyone else." Kimi defends him, both her and Lil putting an arm around him, giving him a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek that Tommy promptly wipes off, flushing a little more.

"Provided we bribe him with plenty of smoothies." Lil adds.

"Wow Tommy, I'm soooo jealous." Phil goes on, sarcastically. "I can't believe you're so lucky. You get to see the girls prance around playing dress up and talk about boys." He and Chuckie start up their laughing again.

"You just had to say something, didn't ya Susie?" Tommy sighs, taking a drink of his smoothie.

"Sorry Tommy. I didn't realize you wanted it kept secret." Susie apologizes. Chuckie and Phil continue to make smart comments while dodging the physical assaults of their respective sisters.

"Laugh all you want guys, but at least I'm not the one who lost a spitting contest to a girl Phil, or almost went to school with my underwear on the outside of my pants Chuckie." That shut them both up, both suddenly becoming interested in drinking their smoothies.

"I remember that spitting contest." Susie remarks. "Weren't you Lil's slave for a week after losing that?"

"Why does everyone have to bring that up?" Phil asks. "Besides, that score is going to be settled between me and Lil in two days at the party." He defends. "And I've already thought up a few things for her to do when she loses."

"I'm afraid to ask but what's the deal this time?" She asks, preparing to keep control of her gag reflex.

"Phil and Lil are going to see who can shoot a jellybean the farthest from their nose." Chuckie explains. "It should prove to be quite entertaining."

"And be totally disgusting." Kimi shivers at the thought.

"And Phillip here is going to lose." Lil says with determination. "Again."

"I believe it is you who is going to lose on Friday Lillian." He responds, with just as much determination.

"Just try to keep the snot quantity to a minimum guys. Don't need the filters on the pool clogging on the first day." Tommy says, making Kimi gag and spit her strawberry smoothie onto Chuckie's shirt.

"Sorry Chuckie." Kimi apologizes, handing him some napkins.

"It's fine." Chuckie says, taking the napkins and cleaning himself off. "I'm certain the prince of fashion here will be able to pick me out a good shirt." Kimi takes her straw out of her smoothie, aiming at Chuckie and blowing into it, this time splattering his face.

"Oops, sorry. I'm sure Tommy will be able to find you a pair of glasses that look good and won't streak as much." She laughs, everyone aside from Chuckie joining in. After a few moments Chuckie joins them, cleaning off his face and glasses, streaks being left on them.


	2. Phil Vs Lil: The Jellybean Nose Down

"Bye mom! Bye dad! Have fun at the convention!" Tommy yells, along with Dil, Tommy wearing his red swimming trunks and a blue shirt, Dil wearing his green stripped swimming trunks, a yellow shirt and his Sherpa hat he's almost never seen without, waving goodbye to their parents as they drive off down the street, pulling a trailer behind it with a tarp covering a bunny looking shape. Dil and Tommy stay standing at the doorway, looking after them until they disappear from sight.

"Was it just me or was that a robotic rabbit under that tarp?" Tommy asks.

"I believe it was a fully animatronic twenty to one scale replica of the Californios Mycoszes; more commonly known as the Californian Rabbit." Dil answers. Tommy gives him a look before shaking his head and looking back out at the road.

"Huh. Wonder why dad didn't mention anything about working on a robotic rabbit for the convention." Tommy muses.

"Or how he managed to get it complete without having it blow up once or twice." Dil adds, before shrugging. "Although he did spend most of his time talking about his earmuffs."

"Yeah. He went through twelve different names for those. I'm just glad we managed to convince dad not to go with the Pickles Incredible Multi-Purpose Sleepwear. That would have made for some terrible marketing." He laughs.

"Totally. But hey, it makes sense that he'd take an animatronic Californios Mycoszes to the invention convention. It is Easter weekend after all." Tommy nods in agreement as a grin spreads across his face.

"Totally, meaning today is Good Friday. Which means..." Dil and Tommy look at each other, both grinning.

"No school!" They say together, fist bumping.

"And the pool. Is. Done!" Tommy cheers, shooting his fist in the air.

"We couldn't help but hearing," comes Lil's voice as she and Phil come walking over, "that the pool is finished and ready for use." Lil was already wearing her new bikini with a pink towel wrapped around her waist, a sleeping bag under her arm, and Phil was in his red and orange splotched swimming trunks with a blue t-shirt on and an orange towel slung over his shoulder and a sleeping bag under his arm.

"Let's get this party started!" Phil cheers. "So I can hurry and give Lil here a little lesson in humiliation." He adds, holding up a bag of jellybeans.

"Ease up there Mr. Bean." Dil tells him. "Tommy here is getting ahead of himself. The pool may be done, but it won't be filled and chlorinated until three."

"That's fine. It'll give me a chance to meditate and get my mojo flowing." Phil says, tossing the bag as the four of them enter the Pickles residence, him and Lil tossing their sleeping bags aside.

"You should try standing on your head while meditating. It'll really opens up your chi flow." Dil suggests.

"Please." Lil scoffs, crossing her arms as Phil and Dil stand on their heads, leaning against the couch for support. "You can meditate, pray, and prepare all you want but it won't change the fact that _I'm_ going to be the winner."

"Ha. You wish. I'm going to be winning this one Lillian." Phil declares, his face starting to turn red from being upside down. "I'm going to shoot it all the way over the pool and over the fence."

"Hey, I just had a brilliant idea." Dil announces, turning right-side up.

"For the last time Dil, we're not putting dolphins in the swimming pool." Tommy says with a smile, rolling his eyes.

"That's not my idea, at least not this time." He says, pausing as Phil loses his balance and comes crashing down the to ground.

"I'm okay." He groans, sitting up, rubbing his head, leaning against the back of the couch.

"If only that were true." Lil comments, with a slight laugh, kneeling on the couch, looking over the back of it.

"While we're waiting for the pool to fill up and become nice and chlorinated," Dil continues, "How about the rest of us bet with each other on who we think is going to win?"

"Hey yeah, that's a great idea Dil." Tommy agrees. The doorbell then rings and Tommy answers it, revealing Chuckie in his green swimming trunks wearing a blue shirt with a colorful towel around his neck and a sleeping bag under his arm, and Kimi wearing her new bikini with a pink Dummi Bears towel around her waist and a Dummi Bears sleeping bag under her arm.

"Hope you guys didn't start the party without us." Kimi says as they enter, tossing their sleeping bags aside.

"The Dummi Bears?" Tommy snickers. "Really?" Kimi casts him a glare and he raises his hands up, backing off.

"The pool won't be ready until three." Lil tells her and Chuckie. "Still needs to be filled and chlorinated."

"But no need to fret." Dil cheerfully tells them. "Cause in the mean time, we're placing bets on the Jellybean Nose Down."

"I don't know you guys." Chuckie worries. "Phil and Lil are already betting with each other. Do we really need to encourage anymore underage gambling than is already going on?"

"You're just scared you're gonna lose." Kimi taunts him.

"Of course I'm scared I'm gonna lose." He barks back. "I don't want to make a bet that Phil's going to win but then he ends up losing and then I end up having to take over all your shifts at the Java Lava for a month." He frantically waves his arms around. Kimi catches one and shakes his hand.

"It's a bet then." She grins. "Loser takes the winners shifts until the last day of school, one month from now."

"What? NO!" He exclaims, prying his hand free. "I made no such deal."

"Looked like a deal to me." Tommy laughs. Chuckie glares at him.

"Whose side are you on?" Chuckie bellows.

"Don't worry dude, Phil is totally going to win this." He reassures him.

"Is that so?" Lil inquires.

"Of course it is." Phil confidently states. "My nose is in primo condition for jellybeans. I've made sure that it's booger free." He sticks his finger in his nose, moving it around and pulling it out, clean, to emphasize his point.

"No offense, but he's gonna beat you by a mile Lil." Tommy declares. Lil and Kimi exchange glances and both get mischievous smiles.

"Uh oh T." Dil apprehensively tells him, the looks on the girls faces setting off warning bells in his head. "They're cooking something up, and it ain't hypoallergenic organic veggies."

"Well then Thomas," Kimi addresses him, in a slightly seductive tone. "Why don't you put that confidence, and yourself, up for stake, hmm?"

"This is not good dude. She used your real name T. She used your real name!" Dil frantically whispers to him, shaking him slightly. "Run for it Tommy. Me, Chuckie, and Phil will hold her off as long as we can."

"He's right Tommy." Chuckie whispers, suddenly appearing on Tommy's other side, startling him. "It's never a good sign when my sister uses your real name in that tone. Trust me. You best run as fast as you can. If you head west, you should be able to catch a boat and flee to Hawaii for a few years."

"Would you two knock it off?" Tommy shrugs his brother and his best friend off. "What type of bet could she possibly suggest that would be any worse than being a slave for a week" gesturing over at Phil, "or having to take all her shifts at the Java Lava for a month?" Gesturing to Chuckie.

"Actually," Phil interjects, "Lil and I have yet to discuss the terms of our bet."

"Whatever." Tommy dismisses. "Come on Kimi, give me your best shot." He challenges her.

"T, you're poking an ursus arctos horribills with a stick." Dil warns him. Tommy gives him a questioning look. "A grizzly bear. You're poking a grizzly bear with a stick." Lil reaches out and grabs Dil, pulling him away from Tommy.

"You best move away from the piece of meat." Lil advises him in a somewhat cold tone. "Else you may find yourself caught in the middle when the bear attacks." He swallows nervously, nodding his head. She releases him and he collapses onto the floor, next to Phil.

"Dude." He whispers to Phil. "I think I just had a miniature heart attack." He holds his hand to his chest, two fingers on his other hand on his neck, checking his pulse.

"Welcome to my life." Phil dryly says.

"If Phil wins," Kimi starts.

"You mean 'when' Phil wins." Phil interrupts. Lil whips her towel down and wraps it around Phil's face, practically smothering him with it before he breaks free. "Geez! Alright!" He dramatically gasps for air. "No need to suffocate me just because you know you're gonna lose."

"Then shut up and let Kimi lay down the terms of her and Tommy's bet." Lil orders her twin. She sweetly and mischievously smiles back at Kimi. "Please, continue."

"If Phil wins, not only will I release you from your promise to go shopping with us _and _double the amount of smoothies I owe you: but both me and Lil will clean your room and do your homework and be your personal servants until school lets out in a month."

"What?" Lil practically screams, hurting everyone's ears, her mischievousness and sweetness being completely replaced by shock and dismay, jumping over the couch, almost landing on Dil and Phil, who scramble out of the way, onto their feet. "What are you doing involving me in such a bet like that!" She demands. Kimi places her hand her Lil's shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"Lil, there's no way you're going to lose." Kimi reassures her.

"I'm not _that _sure I'll win." She tells her.

"I'm liking the sound of this so far." Tommy grins. "Having both Kimi _and _Lil as my personal servants for a month sounds like a lot of fun." He chuckles.

"Hello? Earth to Tommy." Dil calls to him. "The pendulum may have swung very high in your direction, but gravity is pulling and it's going to swing just as high on the other side."

"Dil's right." Chuckie agrees. "If she's offering up being practically a slave for a whole month she's going to be wanting a whole lot from you." He pokes him in the chest.

"She'll probably just suggest that he'll be her slave for a month." Phil suggests.

"You better have something more worth while than him being our servant for a month if I'm to agree to this." Lil tells Kimi. She walks by Lil, slowly towards to Tommy.

"However," Kimi continues, her mischievous grin getting eviler by the second, approaching Tommy, "in the highly likely event that Phil loses, you must join us whenever me or Lil call you, to be our personal fashion consultant, staying with us for as long as we want you, for an entire year." Face to face, she could see the horror in his eyes register before it radiated out across his face. He stumbles backwards, almost falling if not for Dil and Chuckie keeping a hold of him.

"Now that is good." Lil regains her mischievous smile, fist bumping Kimi.

"Good? That is just pure evil!" Phil exclaims.

"You see dude, I told you." Dil manically says. "It's a hundred times worse than I could have imagined."

"Don't do it Tommy." Chuckie tells him. "It's not worth the risk." Tommy swallows nervously and tentatively looks over at Phil.

"Phil?" Tommy weakly says. "You are going to win... right?"

"I don't know dude. That bet is a thousand times larger than I thought it would be." Phil says.

"What's the matter? Is the great Tommy Pickles afraid?" Lil taunts. "I thought my brother was going to beat me by a mile. Did you change your mind? Do you not have faith in him?"

"You gonna let her talk to you like that Tommy?" Phil asks, furrowing his brow, determination on his face. "I say take the bet." He faces Lil. "I am going to win and make her eat her words." Kimi raises her hand up, along with an eyebrow, the mischievous smile ever present on her face.

"Well?" Kimi innocently asks. While Lil and Phil stare each other down Tommy, with renewed courage, takes her hand and shakes, sealing the deal.

"Noooooo!" Dil cries out, dropping to his knees. "You have doomed yourself! Doooooooommmmed! Phil doesn't stand a chance! Lil is going to win!" Everyone looks at Dil in surprise. He then looks at everyone, confused, standing back up. "What? Have I started to sprout a second head?" He starts looking around his neck, feeling around.

"Did you just side with..." Phil starts with disbelief.

"...Me?" Lil finishes, with just as much disbelief.

"Well yeah." Dil answers. "I thought it was obvious that Lil is going to win. That's why I told you not to take that bet." He chides Tommy. "You've doomed yourself. Dooooooomed."

"We'll see about that." Tommy declares. "I'll bet you a months worth of chores that Phil is going to beat Lil." Tommy offers his hand and Dil quickly accepts it.

"Oh you are so on."

"Am I the only one to see the audacity in this?" Chuckie exclaims, everyone looking at him. "We are betting on who is going to shoot a jellybean, a JELLYBEAN, the furthest, out of their NOSE!" Just then the doorbell rings, and everyone sort of just stares dumbly at the door. It rings a second time and Tommy snaps out of his stupor and answers it.

"Hey Susie." Tommy greets as Susie, dressed in her new sky blue bikini, a towel the same shade slung over her shoulder, comes in.

"Hey guys." She greets everyone. "I thought you'd all already be in the pool by now."

"We're waiting for it to fill up with water and be chlorinated." Chuckie informs her. "Won't be ready until three."

"I see. So what are you guys doing? I thought I heard someone yelling about jellybeans."

"Lil and Phil here," Dil starts explaining, "are going to have a little competition to see who can shoot a jellybean the furthest out of their nose."

"Oh right, the jellybean thing."

"The one you heard yelling was Chuckie," Dil continues, "who finds it ridiculous that we are all making bets on who we think is going to win."

"Dare I ask what bets you have made?" Susie cautiously asks.

"Kimi forced me into a bet saying that if Lil wins, I'll take her shifts at the Lava Java for a month and if Phil wins, she'll take mine." Chuckie informs her with a little disdain.

"Dil and I have it that when Phil wins, he'll take my chores for a month." Tommy says.

"I think you mean when Lil wins you'll be taking _my _chores for a month." Dil retorts.

"But I think the one you'll like the most is the one me and Kimi made with Tommy." Lil smiles. "Should I lose, Kimi and I are to be Tommy's servants for a month. Cleaning his room, doing his homework, and generally anything else he might order us to do." Susie's eyes go wide.

"And you accepted that?" She stares in disbelief.

"However," Kimi picks up, "Should Lil win, Tommy must be our personal fashion consultant for an entire year whenever we call on him." Susie turns her disbelieving stare to Tommy.

"And you accepted that?" Tommy nods, and then smiles.

"If you join in on the fun Susie," Tommy tells her, "I'll extend my part of it to a year and a half." Susie chuckles wearily.

"Thank you but, no thank you." She shakes her head. "You guys already have way too much going on." She then looks to Phil and Lil. "What about you two? I assume seeing as it's the two of you who are beaning that you have a bet going on."

"We haven't discussed the terms yet." Phil shrugs.

"We were planning on waiting until we were in the pool." Lil states. "But that plan seems a bit redundant now."

"Whelp, seeing as a month is a popular time frame today, how about if I win..." He starts laughing, before wiping an imaginary tear. "I'm sorry, I meant to say _when _I win, you are not to bathe for an entire month." Phil places his side of the bet. The girls collectively cringe at the thought of not bathing for a month.

"I would rather be Tommy's servant for two months than not bathe for an entire month." She says.

"Well if you think you're going to lose..." He shrugs, smirking.

"Alright, but if I win, you'll have to bathe twice a day _and _avoid doing any and all of your gross, disgusting, dirty habits for an entire month." She responds with her side.

"I may actually have a sense of smell when Phil is around." Kimi laughs.

"You're asking an awful lot there sis." Phil says. "If I have to bathe and avoid anything fun, then you'll have to not bathe and join me in the fun."

"That seems pretty fair to me." Tommy states. Phil and Lil stare each other down, contemplating on whether or not to accept each others terms. "Each one is offering an extreme to the other."

"That almost makes me want Phil to lose." Chuckie comments. Tommy looks over at him. "What? I said almost. I still want him to win. I don't want to take Kimi's shifts." The twins continue to stare each other down until finally, they grab each others hands and shake.

"Deal." They both say.

"Alright!" Dil cheers. "The stakes are high. Who is going to win? Team Phil, with Chuckie and Tommy backing him up; or team Lil, with yours truly and Kimi giving her support. Let the games begin!"

"Uh, Dil, it won't be happening until after we're in the pool." Tommy reminds him.

"Oh, right. So whose up for some _¡Hospital de Tentacion!_ in the mean time?" He suggests. "They're running a marathon today and all weekend, rerunning every episode in preparation for the new season starting next week!" Everyone looks at each other and merely shrug, gathering on and around the couch, Dil flipping to the show.

* * *

><p>"I don't get it." Susie says, sitting sideways in the armchair. "Why would Enrique's twin Inrique pose as Enrique to perform surgery when he doesn't know a thing about medicine?"<p>

"The only reason why I'd pose as Lil is to mess with her and other people." Phil laughs, hanging upside down on the couch, legs over the back.

"Ugh, you couldn't pay me enough to pretend to be him." Lil chides, sitting on the floor leaning against the couch, by Phil. "That would mean having to act dirty and disgusting. No thank you."

"You see, Inrique wants to make Enrique look like a incompetent doctor in front of his fiance Francisca, whom he's madly in love with." Dil explains, laying in front of the coffee table. "But what they don't know is that the girl they think is Francisca is actually her older sister, Alita, because Francisca doesn't love either one of them and Alita loves them both."

"But won't he end up killing the patient?" Kimi asks, sitting between Phil and Chuckie, the later of which had his legs hanging off the arm, his head right next to Kimi. "If he's discovered he could potentially go to jail for a long time."

"You would think, but watch." He tells them. "Because he had no idea what he was doing he ended up performing the wrong procedure, discovering the true cause of the patients illness, thus making everyone praise Enrique." It plays out on the screen as Dil described. "Bien hecho." He claps as the credits roll.

"I would never be able to do surgery." Chuckie comments. "I get woozy from the sight of my own blood." Tommy, laying to the side of the coffee table, looks at the clock.

"Hey guys, it's just about three. How about we go check the pool?" Tommy suggests. They all get up and head out back.

"Wonder why Angelica hasn't shown up yet." Phil asks no one in particular.

"She'll be here." Susie says. "She's just being fashionably late."

"Speaking of fashion, I haven't had a chance to ask Tommy what he thinks of my swimming trunks yet." He laughs. Both Lil and Kimi smack him upside the head, giving him a light scowl. "Ok, sheesh. I was just kidding."

"It's fine guys, let them kid." Tommy smiles. They all stand at the edge of the pool, filled completely with water.

"There's definitely water in it." Lil states. Dil kneels down and pulls out a clear cylinder tube tied to the corner of the pool. He looks at the scales inside. He drops the tube and stands back up.

"Well, is the pool ready or not?" Kimi impatiently asks. Dil takes two steps back, removes his Sherpa hat and shirt, gets a big grin, steps and jumps.

"Cannonball!" He yells, splashing into the pool, getting everyone wet.

"I'll take that as a yes." Phil smiles, removing his shirt and doing a cannonball himself, Chuckie and Tommy following suit. Susie, Kimi, and Lil lay their towels out on the opposite side of the pool, out of splash range, before diving into the water themselves. Chuckie, Tommy, Phil, and Dil quickly get a game of chicken going, Tommy on Chuckie's shoulders, Dil on Phil's.

"Hold it steady there Chuckie." Tommy says, grappling with Dil.

"Your fearsome Finster form is formidable." Dil says, moving his mouth around as if his voice was being dubbed over. "But it is no match for my devastating DeVille style." Chuckie loses his balance and falls forward, colliding with the other two, all crashing down into the water, resurfacing with laughter. Susie gets up onto the diving board, jumping off, doing a 360 front flip, diving right in.

"Nice one Susie." Kimi cheers. "That was amazing."

"You think that's impressive, check this out." Phil declares. He gets out of the water, going over to the diving board and jumping off. "Bellyflop!" He announces, flying up in the air, smacking against the water, everyone cringing.

"That's gotta hurt." Chuckie says, Phil surfacing.

"That's the fun of it." He says, his front turning red.

"Figures." Comes Angelica's voice, rounding the corner of the house, wearing the white bikini with silver trimming that's a size to large, a pair of sunglasses, carrying suntan lotion, a white towel and a lawn chair, setting it up next to Susie's towel. "You preteens would start the party without me." She sits down and starts applying the suntan lotion.

"If we waited for you, how could you be fashionably late?" Susie asks with a smirk.

"True. It wouldn't do for someone of my stature to be on time to a party like this." She haughtily claims. "Not that you could even call this a party."

"Well I know the anticipation has been killing me, so lets get to it shall we." Dil proclaims

"Get to what?" Lil asks, before doing a simple dive off the diving board.

"The Jellybean Nose Off of course!" He reminds them.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Tommy says. He goes over to Phil, giving him a pat on the back. "Come on Phil, you can smoke her." He encourages.

"Come on Lil. Show him what a girl can do." Kimi cheers. Phil and Lil get out of the pool, standing on the shallow edge, Phil holding a bag of Jellybeans in his hand.

"Hold it." Chuckie interrupts. "We need a judge. I volunteer."

"Tch, yeah right." Kimi scoffs. "You'll just say Phil's went further so you won't take my shifts at the Java Lava."

"How about Susie's the judge?" Tommy suggests. "She has no stake."

"Alright. Sounds good." Susie accepts. Everyone moves out of the water except for Susie, who stands in the middle.

"Do I even want to know what you preteens are doing?" Angelica's asks with no interest.

"No, not really." Susie answers and Angelica goes back to ignoring them.

"Alright, here's the rules." Dil announces, walking back and forth in front of Phil and Lil. "You'll take turns shooting, each doing a total of three shoots. The one who gets the furthest shot out of those three wins. Agreed?" They both nod, staring each other down yet again. "Alright, first up is Phil." Dil takes the bag of jellybeans from him, fishes one out and hands it to him.

"One is all I'll need." Phil affirms, getting into position. He places it into his nose, Susie and Kimi not able to help but gag a little, an 'ew' escaping them both. Phil takes a deep breath and launches, making it halfway across the pool. "Beat that." He taunts. Susie grabs the jellybean out of the water, setting it to the right edge of the pool, at the distance it landed.

"Alright Lil, you're up." Dil says, about to grab a jellybean out.

"Hold up." Tommy interrupts, grabbing the bag from Dil. "To counter any attempts at cheating, I'll be the one to give Lil her jellybeans."

"I'm insulted. Do you really think that I would cheat?" He fakes being hurt. Tommy just stares at him. "Ok, if it'll make you feel better." Tommy grabs a jellybean and gives it to Lil, Dil snatching the bag back.

"Go Lil! Shoot it all the way across the pool." Kimi continues to cheer, being met by boos from Tommy and Chuckie. Lil gets into position.

"This is going to feel totally gross." She says to herself, sticking the bean into her nose. She takes a breath and fires, going only half the distance Phil did.

"Ha!" Phil gloats. "You call that a shot? That was pathetic." Susie grabs the bean and sets it to the left, to mark Lil's distance.

"It was a good first shot Lil." Susie reassures her.

"Here you go, Phillip." Dil smirks, handing Phil a large jellybean. "Good luck." Tommy takes the bag from Dil, Phil getting in position.

"This one's going as far as the diving board." Phil predicts. He sticks, breaths, and fires, the jellybean indeed going that far. "Just to let you know, this is the month I planned on dumpster diving behind the cheese factory." He laughs, walking by Lil. Susie places the bean to the right at the distance.

"Way to go Phil." Chuckie roots. "There's no way I'm taking Kimi's shift this month."

"Just wait," Kimi responds, "Lil's just getting warmed up."

"Here you go, Lillian." Tommy slyly grins, handing her a twisted jellybean. "And I'll want you to address me as Sir or Master. Or perhaps Master Pickles. You catch that Kimi?" Lil and Kimi narrows their eyes at him, Dil snatching the bag.

"Blow all the hot air you want." Lil bites.

"Concentrate your chi into your nose." Dil advises. "Focus all your bodies energies." Lil steps up, inserting the jellybean. She takes a deep breath and fires, landing in the water in what looks like the same place as Phil. Dil and Kimi start cheering.

"Hold up." Susie interrupts their celebration. She grabs the bean, putting it in it's place to the left, then swims over to the right where Phil's is before swimming back. She shakes her head. "Sorry Lil, it's a few inches behind." Phil, Chuckie, and Tommy start to cheer.

"Don't celebrate just yet." Dil warns. "There's still one shot left for each."

"Yeah, and I'm going to raise the bar so high she won't be able to get over it with a ladder." Phil smugly says. He gets into position, Dil hands him a small jellybean, Tommy snatching the bag back from him. Phil grins widely, chuckling. "This one is going all the way." He claims. He slides the bean in and takes a deep breath. While taking the breath, the bean gets sucked inwards and Phil chokes. He starts coughing for a few moments before the jellybean comes out of his nose, barely making it into the water. Dil and Kimi start laughing.

"Amazing shot there Phil." Kimi sarcastically laughs.

"It must have gone so fast it breached the fabric of time and went around the world in a blink of an eye." Dil sarcastically laughs.

"That shot doesn't count." Tommy declares. "He started chocking."

"Yeah, he should get to do it again." Chuckie adds.

"Uh uh, no way." Lil argues. "The bean came out of his nose, it counts."

"Susie is the judge here." Dil intervenes. "She'll be the one who decides." Everyone looks expectantly at Susie.

"Now, it may just be the fact that I'm having trouble keeping my gag reflex under control but, it counts." Phil's side argues while Lil's side agrees. "It did come out of your nose."

"Fine." Phil concedes. "But there's still no way she's going to beat my shot."

"Come on Lil, you can do it." Kimi encourages. "Do you really want to not bathe _and_ be Tommy's servant, doing his homework for a month?"

"Don't forget having dirty, disgusting fun with me." Phil laughs.

"Would everyone just shut up?" Lil commands. "I need to concentrate."

"What was it that you said to me earlier?" He asks. "Oh, right. You can meditate, pray, and prepare all you want, but it won't change the fact that I'm going to be the winner." Lil ignores him as she closes her eyes and starts taking deep, calming breathes. Tommy places a jellybean into her hand as she swallows nervously.

"I can do this." She says to herself, inaudible to anyone else. "I can do this."

"Hurry up Lil." Tommy impatiently says. "I've already got a list of things I want you and Kimi to do, starting with a nice foot rub."

"And I'm feeling like playing the 'what's that smell' game." Phil adds in.

"Next week is banana and onion smoothie week. I hope you enjoy yourself." Chuckie taunts Kimi.

"I can do this." Lil repeats to herself. She takes her position, inserts the bean, takes one final breathe, silently praying, and fires, keeping her eyes shut as it soars and lands in the water. Silence. "Well?" She timidly asks, peeking with one eye. "Did I win?" She sees Susie swimming from one side of the pool to the other, measuring. Susie turns to her with a big grin.

"You did it baby." Susie declares. Kimi and Dil break out in cheers, Phil, Chuckie, and Tommy groaning and moaning. Lil smiles in disbelief, her two supporters congratulating her.

"Way to go Lil!" Kimi energetically says, hugging her tightly.

"I knew you could do it." Dil says just as energetically, wrapping his arms around both of them. The group loses balance and falls into the pool. They surface with laughter, Lil giving a cheeky grin to team Phil. Angelica lazily raises her head and looks over her sunglasses in their direction before setting it back down.

"Yes. It's so very exciting." Angelica dryly says, completely unaware of what's going on. Susie swims over to the celebrating trio.

"Way to put him in his place girl." She congratulates Lil.

"Oh Chuckie." Kimi sweetly taunts. "I do hope you'll enjoy banana and onion smoothie week." He frowns at her, grumbling.

"I expect to hear the shower running first thing in the morning." Lil tells her sulking twin, laying face down on the ground.

"I believe you know what your duties for the next month will be." Dil says to his brother, who sinks down to the ground, groaning.

"And Tommy," Kimi says, "you better not make any plans Tuesday. We've got some serious summer shopping to do." The girls giggle, Dil laughing, as Tommy flops onto his back, groaning louder. He kicks Phil.

"How could you lose dude?" Tommy asks. "Now I'm their fashion slave for a year."

"I had her." He affirms. "If that jellybean didn't get sucked up my nose I would have won."

"Well you didn't." Chuckie growls. "I hate banana and onion smoothie week. The onions always make me cry."

"No eating mashed potatoes through my nose." Phil starts to lament. "No shooting yogurt out my nose. No picking my nose. No armpit farts. No playing 'what's that smell'. No whistling show tunes with my nose. No drinking milk with my nose. Nothing fun that registers the on grossometer. For a month."

"You sure like to do a lot of things with your nose." Chuckie comments. "So how did you lose?" He growls.

"Why don't we leave the boys to wallow in defeat for now." Lil suggests, smiling. Dil clears his throat, crossing his arms. "Excluding Dil of course."

"Thank you." He responds.

"Well, might as well not let this ruin our fun." Tommy says, trying to force some cheer, sitting up. "Let's get back in the water." He stands.

"I think I'm just gonna lay here and wallow some." Chuckie dejectedly says. Phil sits up.

"Tommy's right. There's plenty of fun stuff that isn't gross." Phil optimistically says. "Just because I can't think of anything right now doesn't mean they don't exist." He jumps to his feet and runs to the pool, jumping. "Cannonball!" He lands with a splash, hitting the girls and Dil. Tommy, along with a reluctant Chuckie, join him in the pool.

"Hey, do you think we could hook up the zip-line from the tree fort and drop into the pool from it?" Dil hopefully asks.

"No way dude." Tommy declines him. "The last thing we need is someone breaking something while mom and dad are away."

"I think I'm going to lay in the sun a bit." Kimi announces. She goes over to her towel. "Hey Angelica, do you think I could use some of your suntan lotion?"

"Knock yourself out." She replies, tossing her the bottle without looking. "I've got plenty at home." Kimi applies it before laying down on her Dummi Bears towel, closing her eyes.

"Susie, why don't you show us how to do that amazing dive you did?" Lil asks her.

"Yeah, that was totally awesome." Dil joins Lil in asking.

"Alright. I'll do it again." Susie agrees. "But you better pay close attention cause after this I'm joining Kimi." She gets to the diving board. "The key is to start twisting yourself the moment you leave the diving board." She bounces a few times before flying up, performing a flawless 360 front flip dive. Everyone, aside from Angelica, cheers Susie as she surfaces.

"Please." Angelica scoffs, rolling her eyes, getting up from her chair. "You call that a dive Carmichael?" One of her straps starts to fall from her shoulder and she quickly puts it back in place.

"You think you can do better?" Susie challenges, crossing her arms.

"I don't think, I know." Angelica declares, taking her sunglasses off, pompously smiling.

"Well then, by all means." Susie invites, extending her arm to the diving board.

"This ought to be good." Tommy whispers to Phil.

"I gotta see this." Kimi says, sitting up. Angelica hesitates.

"Come on Angelica, show us how good you are." Lil taunts. Angelica bites her lip before determination washes over her.

"Prepare to have that smirk wiped from your face Susie." Angelica moves to the diving board, standing on the edge.

"Don't do it Angelica." Chuckie advises. "There's already been enough humiliation today. You don't need to add yourself to the list." She scowls at him, making him shrink back a bit. She turns around, back towards them, bounces a few times before soaring into the air, performing a flawless 540 double back flip dive. She emerges from the water, arms extended into the air, grinning at everyone's stunned expression. Silence. Nobody says a word.

"It seems my dive has struck you speechless." She says with a triumphant smile.

"Uh, Angelica?" Susie says, the first one to snap out of their stupor. She points to the water beside her. Angelica looks and sees her bikini top float on by. Her eyes go wide when she realizes she's standing there, topless, exposing herself to all of them. She lets out an ear piercing scream, making everyone cover their ears, shutting their eyes involuntary while wincing. She quickly grabs her top, gets out of the pool, wrapping her towel around herself and running inside before anyone stops their wincing and opens their eyes. They all stand their in silence and disbelief.

"Whelp." Phil breaks the silence. "I think we're done swimming for the day." He gets out of the pool and grabs his towel, proceeding to dry off. Everyone murmurs in agreement, following suit aside from Tommy, who sits on the edge of the pool, his feet dangling in the water.

"Uh, how about we get back to the _¡Hospital de Tentacion! _marathon?" Dil suggests. Again everyone aside from Tommy murmurs agreement and start to head inside. Susie notices Tommy sitting there and stays behind, joining him.

"Did... did that just happen?" Tommy asks, still in a daze, staring into the water. "Did we really... just see..." Susie wraps an arm around him, giving him a light hug.

"Just, forget about it, alright?" Susie tells him. "Push it out of your mind."

"How do you just... ignore something like... seeing your cousin's...?" He continues to stare at the water.

"Come on." Susie urges him, standing, pulling him with her. "Perhaps a few hours of Spanish soap opera will help you take your mind off it." He absently nods his head and follows her inside.


	3. The Fall of the First Domino

"So let me get this straight." Susie says, the seven of them in their positions again in front of the television, all still in their bathing suits, wrapped in their respective towels, Angelica hiding up in the spare bedroom upstairs. "Inrique isn't Enrique's twin, but instead is a cybernetic clone from an alternate dimension? I thought this was supposed to be a soap opera, not a sci-fi drama."

"No, no, no, you got it wrong." Dil explains. "You see, right now we're just watching the events of a dream Isabella is having. Inrique here goes haywire and she must kill him before he hurts those she cares for. The whole dream foreshadows the events of the finale of this season, where she'll encounter the classic scenario of choosing which one is the real Enrique and which one she'll need to kill."

"So this whole entire episode is just to give us a glimpse at what happens at the end of the season?" Chuckie asks.

"I haven't a clue." Lil shrugs. "I lost track of the plot two hours ago."

"There's a plot?" Phil boredly states.

"I think I understand it so far." Kimi says.

"What about you Tommy?" Susie directs towards Tommy, who has been staring blankly at the screen since they gathered around it. "Does any of this make any sense to you?" He just continues to stare blankly, despite the fact that it was a commercial. Lil, being the closest, waves her hand in front of him.

"Hello? Earth to Tommy. You in there?" Lil questions, lightly nudging him. Tommy blinks and shakes his head.

"Huh? What? You guys say something?" Tommy says, completely unaware of what they were talking about.

"You okay T?" Dil asks, concerned. "You haven't moved, said a word, or even blinked since we sat down." He peers into his ears. "Have mutant worms from the Earth's core bored their way into your brain?" Tommy pushes him away.

"No Dil, I'm fine. Really" Tommy lies, at least concerning the part about being fine. "I'm just... hungry is all. Yeah, that's it." Kimi was about to question his claim when her stomach growls, followed by a chorus of growls from everyone elses stomachs.

"Now that you mention it, I'm kinda hungry too." Kimi agrees. "What's for dinner?"

"Well, mom said we could have the bag of chicken nuggets in the freezer." Tommy says, grateful his friends have decided not to give him the first degree. "I think it's a bag of one hundred." Phil hops off the couch and cracks his knuckles with a grin.

"Whelp, seeing as I'm the best cook here, I'll get the food ready." Phil announces.

"So long as you remember to wash your hands before you start." Lil smirks, reminding him of the bet he'd lost earlier that day, him giving her a quick glare.

"What can you do with chicken nuggets?" Chuckie wonders. "They're precooked. You heat them up in the microwave and eat them."

"Don't stress yourself Chuckie." Phil smugly says. "You just lack the culinary prowess that I possess."

"He's right." Lil agrees. "He's a genius in the kitchen. But logic dictates he'd have to be competent in something." She adds with a laugh.

"Well you go ahead and get dinner ready Phil." Susie tells him. "I'll go see if I can't convince Angelica to join us for dinner."

"Why does she need to be convinced?" Kimi asks, remembering the reason after voicing her question. "Oh, right, her wardrobe malfunction."

"Wow was that embarrassing." Lil shakes her head.

"Tell me about it." Dil affirms. "You have any idea what it's like to see that happen to your own cousin? The awkward meter is going to be off the charts for weeks."

"I would die of embarrassment if that happened to me." Kimi says.

"Kimi, please." Chuckie shudders. "I'm mentally scarred enough as is with seeing Angelica like that. I don't need that mental image joining it."

"I'm with Chuckie." Phil agrees. "Angelica was bad enough. I don't think I'd be able to handle it if that happened to anyone else. Just thinking about it makes me queasy."

"Don't you have some chicken to cook?" Lil bites. Phil retreats into the kitchen. "And you better wash your hands first!"

"Yes mom." He dryly replies.

"Anyways I'm going to go talk to Angelica." Susie repeats, getting up. "If I can convince her to come down for dinner, nobody mention what happened at the pool."

"Trust me." Dil says. "That's the last thing I want to talk about, let alone think about. If I knew a sure fire way of how to get in contact with our alien brethren, I'd ask them to erase that memory completely from my mind, maybe even go back in time and stop it from happening."

"If you do get in contact with them, do you think they would do that for me as well?" Chuckie asks. Everyone else murmurs agreements, including Phil in the kitchen, excluding Tommy, who had tuned out their conversation and resumed his blank staring, this time directed towards the floor. Susie goes up the stairs and lightly knocks on the door to the spare bedroom.

"Angelica? How you doing?" Susie calls, trying to open the door but it was locked.

"Go away." Angelica replies, her voice crackling.

"Come on Angelica, open the door. I just want to talk." Susie requests.

"Leave me alone." She demands.

"Angelica, Tommy and Dil's parents left a set of keys to the house. If you don't open up I'm just going to get the keys and unlock the door anyways." Susie threatens. A few moments of silence later and the sound of the lock unlocking greets her. Susie enters and sees Angelica curled up on the bed, in her pajamas, arms wrapped around her legs, her eyes red and puffy, her hair a complete mess.

"Alright, you're in. What do you want?" She bitterly says. Susie sits down on the bed next to her.

"How you feeling?" Susie asks again.

"Like sunshine and daisies. Like I'm in the warm, fuzzy embrace of a Dummi Bear. Like I just won Miss Universe." She says with sarcastic cheer. "How do you think I feel?" She angrily yells. Susie lightly touches her arm, comforting her.

"Look, I know it's bad but-" Susie begins before Angelica interrupts with a dry laugh.

"Bad? Bad?" She says with dismay. "When I had the zipilation mountains on my face, that was bad." She starts, her voice slowly increasing in volume. "When me and my mom were lost at sea for several hours with a ripped sail, that was bad. When my mom gave away Cynthia, the one possession I value above anything else I have, that was bad." She gets up off the bed, facing Susie. "THIS, THIS is WAY beyond bad!" She begins pacing back and forth. "If it was just you, Kimi, and Lil, things would be okay. Hell," She grievously smiles, "even if it was just you three, Lil's disgusting twin and Kimi's loser of a brother, it'd fall under the classification of simply being bad. But both Tommy and Dil, my own two cousins, seeing me expose myself like that?" She plops face first onto the bed. "This is off the charts."

"Look at it this way, it could be worse." Susie suggests. Angelica rolls onto her back and glares at her before staring at the ceiling.

"Really, Carmichael, how could it possibly be worse?" Angelica sarcastically asks.

"It could have happened at the public pool, in front of all the popular kids from school." She tells her. Angelica takes a deep breathe before sitting up.

"I suppose you're right, like always." She sighs, visibly calmer. "Which is so annoying. But it doesn't change the fact that this is still nuclear on the scale."

"I won't pretend to even begin to know how you feel." Susie moves over, sitting next to her, wrapping an arm around her. "But I do have a pretty good idea of how I'd feel if that happened to me in front of my brothers. I'd want to crawl under a rock for a few years."

"More like a few decades at the bottom of the ocean." Angelica mumbles.

"Sure, things are going to be a bit... awkward between you and the guys for a while, more so with Dil and Tommy than Chuckie or Phil. But I can tell you that as much as you're embarrassed your top fell off, they're embarrassed that they saw that happen to a girl they've known since they were in diapers."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She frowns at Susie.

"My point is that this is an uncomfortable situation for them just as much as it is for you." Susie gives her a light squeeze. "And we'd all like nothing more than to just forget this ever happened and move on with our lives. I mean, come on." She laughs. "We've spent the last few hours watching a Spanish soap opera that only three of us can understand, two only vaguely, to put it out of our minds." Angelic is silent for a several moments, staring down at her hands in her lap.

"Why did I have to get that stupid bikini?" She moans.

"Because it was the latest piece from the LaMarr summer line and you were hoping to impress Savannah." Susie answers.

"Ever hear of a rhetorical question?" Angelica bitterly says. Susie responds with a laugh. "What about Tommy and Dil?"

"If you're worried that they're going to hold this over your head for personal gain, don't be." Susie reassures her. "In fact, I believe Dil is going to try to contact his alien friends and ask them to wipe the memory from his mind." Angelica frowns.

"If anyone else had said that I wouldn't believe it."

"So, you think you're up for joining us downstairs for dinner? We're having chicken nuggets." Susie stands, urging Angelica to join her.

"Sure." She lightly smiles. "Just give me a minute. I must look a mess." She gives a light chuckle.

"Alright, but if you're not down in five minutes, I'm sending in a search party." Susie jokes, heading out of the bedroom.

"Susie?" Angelica's voice stops her and she turns. "Thanks." Susie gives her a warm smile.

"What are friends for, right?" She goes out and heads back downstairs, where a heated debate was happening in the kitchen, Tommy and Dil being the only ones still in front of the T.V., Tommy with his vacant stare and Dil engrossed in the show.

"Why should you get sixteen nuggets while the rest of us only get twelve, Phillip?" Lil argues as Susie enters the kitchen, nine plates with said nuggets on them sitting on the kitchen table, one of which had only four.

"It was a bag of one hundred, Lillian." Phil explains. "There's eight of us. That means we each get twelve with four left over. And since I was the one who did the cooking, I get the extra."

"You can figure all that out in your head and yet you have a D in math?" Lil balks.

"C minus thank you very much." He corrects.

"I think Lil, Dil, and I should get the extras." Kimi fights. "We are the ones who won the bet earlier today after all."

"No, you guys won the bet so it's only fair Phil, Tommy, and I get the extras." Chuckie chimes in. Susie puts two fingers to her mouth and whistles loudly, stopping the arguing.

"Would you all just chill?" She orders them. She looks the plates over. Phil had set the nuggets up to form the first letter of each persons name, along with a small pool of barbeque sauce joining each letter. Susie grabs a knife and cuts the four extra nuggets in half, putting a half on each plate. "There, now everybody has the same amount." Everyone drops their arguments and takes their respective plates. "All this fuss over a few chicken nuggets." She shakes her head. She grabs the plates with nuggets forming T and D, taking them out to Tommy and Dil while everyone takes their seats.

"Thanks Susie." Dil takes his plate. She holds Tommy's plate in front of him and Tommy continues to stare blankly.

"Tommy, food's ready." Susie informs him, knocking on his head to get his attention.

"What? Oh, I-I'm not hungry." Tommy says, shaking his head, sitting up.

"T, you sure there aren't any worms in your brain? Perhaps some alien probes?" Dil asks, popping a nugget in his mouth.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just... tired is all." He lies.

"Really?" Kimi says, not believing him for a second. "Earlier you said you were just hungry. Now suddenly you're not hungry but tired? I'm not buying it."

"What's bugging you Tommy?" Chuckie worries. Tommy stands up, taking a few steps back.

"Nothing, alright?" He defends in a slightly annoyed tone. "It's just been a long day today and I want to go to sleep." Something was definitely bugging Tommy but they all decided to drop it for now.

"Fine, but you're not going to sleep on an empty stomach." Susie tells him, holding the plate in front of him again. "Now eat." He sighs in defeat and takes the plate, sitting back down and starts slowly on his nuggets. Susie goes back into the kitchen, grabbing her plate donned with nuggets in the shape of an S and Angelica's, forming an A. She comes back out into the living room as Angelica, looking no worse for wear, comes down the stairs. "Here you are. Nuggets Casa de Chicken."

"That's Casa de Phil, thank you very much." Phil corrects her. Angelica hesitantly accepts the plate, eying the nuggets suspiciously.

"Phil did the cooking?" She incredulously asks, taking her spot on the arm chair, Susie sitting on the floor next to it, leaning against the couch. "I'm not going to bite into one and a bug comes popping out, am I?"

"No worries, I made sure he prepared them hygienically." Lil smirks, popping a nugget into her mouth.

"But that bug idea sounds pretty good. I gotta remember that one." Phil says to himself.

"If I find a bug in anything I eat, I'm immediately assuming it was your doing." Kimi promises. She bites into a nugget. "But I must say, I've never had chicken nuggets that taste so good before."

"Kimi's right." Chuckie agrees with is sister. "I didn't think there was anything you could do with frozen chicken nuggets." He tosses one in the air and tries to catch it in his mouth, hitting his glasses instead and landing back on his plate.

"Excelente mi amigo." Dil praises.

"Nice work Phil. Very delicious." Susie compliments. With the overwhelming approval of Phil's nuggets, Angelica takes a tentative bite. She's surprised at how good it tastes.

"Not bad DeVille, not bad at all." Angelica compliments. Phil grins.

"Careful there Angelica." Lil playfully warns. "If we start giving him too much praise his ego might get larger than yours."

"Like anyone could possibly have a larger ego than me. I've spent years inflating it." She jokes, laughing along with everyone else, though one voice was absent from the chorus. "So, what's going on here?" She asks, waving her half eaten nugget at the screen. "Is this some sort of space movie or something? Cause I clearly see a robot holding a ray gun."

Dil starts in, explaining what is happening and what's going to happen. They all sit there, enjoying their nuggets, watching the Spanish soap opera, the occasional question or comment being made met by an explanation from Dil. Of course Tommy was the only one not to join in with the laughter and fun everyone else was having. He slowly ate his nuggets, sneaking glances in Angelica's direction every so often, making sure nobody saw him. Despite his slow pace, he was the first to finish. He stood suddenly, interrupting whatever question Susie was asking.

"I've finished my food. I'm heading to bed." He plainly states.

"Cool. Thanks for letting us know." Phil apathetically says. Tommy takes his plate to the kitchen and heads up to his room.

"What's with him?" Angelica asks.

"Don't know." Chuckie says. "He won't talk about it."

"I think I know what's wrong." Dil states, standing up. "I'll go talk to him, see if I can't keep the grasshoppers from digging up their acorns." Before anyone had a chance to ask about his phrase, Dil heads up the stairs to Tommy's room. "Yo T, can I come in?" Dil knocks.

"Like anything I'd say would keep you from doing so." Tommy bitterly says as Dil enters, sitting on his bed in his pajamas. "If you came here to try and get me to talk, don't bother."

"That's fine." Dil shrugs. "You don't need to talk. I already know whats bugging you anyways."

"Really?" He scoffs, setting his alarm. "And what might that be? Alien mind control? A spirit is trying to possess my body? Mutant worms have bored their way into my brain?" He stands, taking an aggressive step towards Dil, who stands his ground. "Please, enlighten me."

"Under normal circumstances I'd consider all three of those options viable." Dil considers. "But none of those are the reason you're bugging so much."

"And how would you know what's got me bugging?" He incredulously asks.

"Because I'm her cousin too." He says, catching Tommy off guard. Tommy turns away. "You're bugging because you can't stop thinking about what happened, and well what we all saw." Tommy's defense falls, and he starts spilling to Dil.

"It's just that," Tommy swallows down a lump in his throat, "she's always been our mean, bossy, older cousin. That's all I've ever seen her as and that's all she's ever been. But now." He sits on his bed. "When I look at her, when I think of her, that image flashes in my mind. I'm not thinking 'there's Angelica, my cousin who yells at me and my friends.' Now, I think... I think..." He sighs, running his hand through his hair. "I don't know what I think."

"You still think that about Angelica, it's just that now you're coming to realize that she is a girl, not just our cousin." Dil leans against the wall.

"What?" Tommy asks, confused. "How does that make any sense?"

"Simple. You remember what happened between Lil and Phil after Phil saw Lil in her bra?"

"Yeah, Phil and Lil both started to majorly bug and we missed out on an awesome DeVille party at Yu-Gotta-Go World." Tommy recalls. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, after seeing Lil in her bra, Phil came to realize that she is a girl. And with that realization things got mondo weird between them. He was seeing Lil as his sister and as a girl." Dil explains.

"I'm still not following."

"Ok, let's try a different approach. You think that the Princess Nioko hologram is hot, right?" Dil asks.

"I don't know why I'm indulging you but yes, the Nioko hologram is hot." He dryly says.

"Now, imagine if Nioko was your cousin."

"Ew dude, gross." Tommy grimaces. "Why would you even suggest that?"

"I'm just trying to get you to understand why you're bugging so much over Angelica." He simply states. "Angelica has always been our cousin, like Lil has always been Phil's sister. But after seeing Angelica in the pool you're coming to realize that Angelica is a girl, one who could be considered to others as being hot. Do you get it now?" Tommy sits on his bed, thinking things through.

"Yeah, I think I do get it." Tommy understands. "Angelica is, as disturbing as it is for me to admit it, an attractive girl who is my cousin. And after seeing her... well after her wardrobe malfunction the two viewpoints are conflicting with one another."

"Precisely." Dil smiles, glad Tommy has figured it out. Then Tommy frowns and looks at Dil.

"But why aren't you bugging out like I am?" Tommy asks. Dil shrugs.

"Don't know. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm not as hormonal as you are." He suggests. "Or perhaps it's because I've already come to the realization that Angelica is our cousin and a girl a long time ago." Tommy lays back on his bed, sighing.

"Well great, now that I understand it it just makes the whole thing even worse." He groans.

"Don't worry Tommy, it's just going to take some time to adjust." Dil reassures him. "Things are going to be weird and awkward for a while but it'll pass." Tommy frowns at him.

"Since when did you suddenly become an expert on stuff like this?"

"It's simple psychology. I've been doing a lot of reading on that lately." Dil explains.

"And since when were you into psychology?" He raises his eyebrow with the question, sitting up.

"Hey, if I don't understand the human mind, how can you expect me to understand an alien one?" Dil laughs. Tommy cracks a smile and laughs a little.

"Figures." He slouches on the bed. "But I still can't stop thinking about it."

"Then stop trying. The more you try to not think about it the more you will."

"Alright." Tommy sighs. "I'll try. Or won't try. Or whatever."

"Sweet. Now that I've prepared your mind to fight off any future spectral attacks, grab your sleeping bag and come on down." He tells him. "It's rude if the host isn't with his guests."

"This is your house too you know." He reminds him. "Wouldn't that also make you a host?"

"I may live here, but you're the eldest, so you're the host." Dil retorts.

"Ok, you got me there." Tommy admits defeat. He goes to his closet and grabs his sleeping bag. "You better get changed into your pajamas then Dil."

"Way ahead of you." Dil's voice comes from the hall, heading towards his room. Tommy carries his bag down the stairs, stopping halfway, seeing everyone else preparing their own, getting ready for bed, all in their pajamas, though his eyes were mainly focused on Angelica.

"Don't forget Chuckie, you've got the morning shift tomorrow." Kimi reminds him with a laugh.

"I know already." Chuckie grumpily replies. "You've only reminded me twelve times already."

"And when we get home tomorrow, I expect to here the shower running with you in it Phillip." Lil grins.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get clean tomorrow." Phil grumbles.

"I still can't believe you kept such prime information from me Susie." Angelica complains.

"I'm sorry Angelica. I didn't think you'd be interested in Phil and Lil shooting jellybeans from their noses." Susie apologizes.

"I could care less about what they were doing." She dismissively waves. "I'm talking about the betting that was going on." She smirks. "I could have taken some serious advantage of that."

"Well next time Phil and Lil plan on competing in a disgustilon, you'll be the first to know." Dil assures her, walking down the steps, wearing his feetsie pajamas, making Tommy continue his way down.

"So I take it you've managed to keep the grasshoppers from getting squashed by nuts." Chuckie says.

"It's dig up their acorns, not get squashed by nuts." He corrects, tossing his bag over where Phil was laying. Tommy goes over by Chuckie, the opposite side of the room as Angelica.

"So you gonna tells us what had you being all zombified all day?" Phil asks. Tommy was about to make an excuse but Dil jumps in with one.

"It was mutant alien ghost worms trying to dig their way into his brain." He tells them. "Had to flush them out using a special concoction I keep in my room."

"Right, just like the freckles on Chuckie's back form the constellation Orion." Kimi sarcastically says.

"What? They do?" Chuckie frantically asks, sitting up, pulling up his pajama top trying to look at his back. Everyone starts laughing, even Tommy who managed to catch the joke despite his distracted mind and hidden stares at Angelica. "That's not funny."

"I think we'll have to disagree with you on that one." Lil smiles.

"So what bet did you lose Dil?" Angelica queries.

"Actually, I won my bet, with Tommy here." Dil smiles. "Since Lil won he has to do all of my chores for a month."

"There's also the one that he made, and lost, with Kimi and me." Lil gladly says.

"This ought to be good." Angelica smirks.

"Well, if Phil won, Lil and I were to be Tommy's personal servants for a month." Kimi explains.

"What do you know, Tommy does have a sinister side." Her smirk gets wider.

"But since Phil lost, he is now on call to be me and Kimi's personal fashion consultant whenever and however long we want, for a year." Lil finishes.

"Looks like you're a slave to fashion now Pickles." Angelica laughs.

"Just like all the girls at our school." Chuckie mumbles.

"What was that Finster?" Angelica narrows her eyes at him. He shrinks back a little.

"Uh, nothing." He quickly replies.

"Thought so."

"Well let's quiet down and get to sleep now." Susie yawns as she settles into her sleeping bag. "It's getting late."

"You heard your babysitter, pipe down and go to bed." Angelica orders them, settling in herself. Everyone starts settling in.

"Angelica, I'm your babysitter too." She laughs, five other soft ones joining hers. Angelica grumbles and shuts her eyes, Dil turning off the light. The room becomes quiet and they all fall fast asleep, save for Tommy, who stares up at the ceiling, casting glances towards Angelica, despite not being able to see her due to his friends in the way and the darkness of the room.

"I don't get it." He says quietly to himself. "I understand it now but it's still like this." His eyes start to feel heavy "Maybe Dil's right. It'll just take some time to get used to." He closes his eyes. As he feels himself drift off the images of Angelica diving into the pool and coming out of the water topless flash before him and he shoots his eyes open. He strains in the darkness to see the clock. "Only a few hours of sleep." He sighs. The familiar feeling of needing to use the restroom greets him. He gets out of his sleeping bag and quietly makes his way upstairs. He's almost all the way up when he notices the bathroom door is open a crack, light streaming out of it. He carefully approaches it, stopping when a voice comes floating out of it.

"Ugh, stupid thing." Angelica's voice says. The sound of the the toilet flushing followed by running water. He tiptoes to the door and peeks in, swallowing nervously. Angelica turned the sink off and proceeded to dry her hands. "How can anybody sleep with this type on?" Tommy's eyes go wide as Angelica starts to take her pajama top off, standing there in a frilly white bra. She reaches behind her back and starts unhooking her bra. "Having these hooks keep digging into your back is painful." Tommy knew he shouldn't be watching. He wanted to move, go back downstairs, go anywhere, but he couldn't move. He was glued to the spot, his eyes going wider, his mouth going agape as he saw remove her bra, her topless reflection in the mirror clearer than day. She holds the bra up and glares at it, feeling the red marks on her back.

"You and the rest of your kind are going in the trash first thing tomorrow when I get home." She threatens it. "I'm replacing you with the ones that have the hooks on the front." She then looks at her topless image in the mirror, her anger dissolving into slight depression. She places her hands on the sink and sighs. "I should have listened to Susie." She says. "Now Chuckie, Phil, Dil, and Tommy all know what I look like." She starts to put her bra back on. "If it weren't for my years of practice of acting like I don't care, things would have been even more awkward than they were down there." She finishes her bra and slides her top back on. "Susie was trying to make me feel better but she was lying." She clenches her fists, her anger returning. "They don't feel embarrassed, they're all laughing at me. They find this whole thing funny. I can tell by the way they didn't say a word to me about it. Last time I buy a bikini that's to large simply because it's fashionable."

Tommy sees her start to head for the door and he panics, rushing down the hall, into the spare bedroom. He peeks out and sees Angelica heading down the stairs. He leans against the wall and slides down, sitting on the floor, his heart pounding in his chest, breathing heavily.

"Did I... really... see that?" He asks in disbelief. He puts his hand on his chest, feeling the pounding, swallowing some air. "Why do I feel this way? What's wrong with me?" He curls up in a ball, trying to calm himself down but failing, refusing to close his eyes for fear of the image persisting. "She's my cousin. She's my... hot... cousin." His mind repeats that last phrase, and he has to force himself to omit the word 'hot'. After an hour, managing to calm slightly, he tends to his business and returns downstairs. He stops short of Angelica, watching her sleep for a few moments, the image of her flashing, the phrase repeating. He slaps himself, snapping him out of his trance and goes to his sleeping bag, laying there, sleep alluding him.


	4. How to Cope

"Ah, yep." Phil stretches, everyone rolling up their sleeping bags, Angelica having already left for home, Tommy lazily rolling his. "This sure was fun."

"Yeah, especially the part when Lil creamed you." Kimi smirks.

"Hey, she only won by an inch." Phil defends. "That's hardly worthy of cream filling."

"Doesn't change the fact that you still lost." Lil slyly says.

"You better get a move on Chuckie. The Java Lava opens in half an hour." Kimi tells her brother. Chuckie groans.

"Cheer up Chuckie." Dil happily says. "You get to spend twice the time at the Java Lava, which gives you twice the face time for any girls that come in."

"Great. That just means I get twice the opportunity to humiliate myself." Chuckie grumbles.

"Well I'm going to catch you guys later." Susie says, her sleeping bag prepared and under her arm. "Gonna head home and take a shower before going to see how Angelica's doing." And she waves good bye as she goes out and crosses the street to her house.

"She seemed fine to me last night." Kimi says. "Even if a few moments were a bit awkward."

"You know Angelica. She's one tough cookie." Dil says.

"I probably wouldn't be able to face anyone who saw me for days if that happened to me." Lil shivers at the thought.

"I know I wouldn't want to look at you." Phil comments. "Seeing you in your bra was enough to make me want to gouge my eyes out."

"Don't you have a shower to be taking?" She narrows her eyes at him.

"Do I have to? Can't I wait until tonight?" He whines.

"You lost the bet. You have to bathe twice a day. Once in the morning and once before bed. Now march." She orders him, pointing towards the door. He picks up his sleeping bag and grumbles as the two of them walk out to home next door.

"You too Chuckie. You got to get to the Java Lava." Kimi smiles, pushing a reluctant Chuckie out.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Chuckie frowns.

"Of course. Bye Dil. Bye Tommy. Don't make any plans for Tuesday Tommy." She calls out as she and her brother leave.

"See ya." Dil waves. He turns to Tommy who was sitting on the floor, tired, staring at his half rolled sleeping bag. "Couldn't sleep?" Tommy looks up at him, his eyes drooping, looking back at his sleeping bag, shaking his head.

"No." He replies tiredly.

"This is really getting to you, huh?" Dil worries. He doesn't answer. "Perhaps a Dil Pickles specialty breakfast will cheer you up." He suggests. "I'm thinking my alien green eggs, blasting blue bacon, and top it off with my mysterious black milk." He expected a reaction from Tommy but got none. "Wow. Normally you'd shut me down and say you'd rather have Kimi's cooking."

"I just want to try and forget about it." He says, zombie like.

"I know what you mean. I'd like to forget it too." Dil sympathetically says. "But food that tastes like that," He shakes his head, "it stays with you." Tommy just gives him a blank look before standing, leaving his sleeping bag on the floor, heading into the kitchen. Dil goes after him. He grabs a bowl out and the cereal along with the milk, sitting at the table and pouring himself a bowl. Dil grabs a bowl and joins him. "So, have you come up with any new brilliant ideas for any new films yet?" He asks, trying to help him take his mind off of Angelica.

"Dil, don't."

"What? I'm genuinely interested in knowing what future films you have in store. It's not some ploy to divert you from thinking about yesterday. It's just simple, everyday conversation." He explains. Tommy looks at him with his tired eyes. "I know we're not allowed to drink coffee but you look like you could use some." He gets up and goes over to the coffee pot, searching the drawers. "Where are those little- Aha! Found them." He pulls out a coffee filter, puts it in, pours in some coffee grounds and water, making a quick cup of coffee. He spoons in some sugar, brings it over to Tommy, pours in a little milk, and stirs. "There we go. One cup of pick me up juice, hot n' ready. Enjoy." Tommy picks up the coffee cup and takes a sip, scrunching up his face a bit at the slight bitter taste.

"How is it you know how to make coffee?" He questions.

"It's all any of our parents ever drink when they hang out and talk. I've seen them make it a million times." He smiles. "So come on, don't keep me is suspense. What's the latest film idea you got cooking in that noggin of yours?" He takes a bite of his cereal, Tommy taking another sip of the coffee.

"Well, I had this idea of a comedy centered around our pool. But, with Angelica..." He trails off.

"Right. You'll try to think of jokes and the plot and she'll just pop right on in." Dil says. "Any other ideas?" He urges him to continue.

"There's this other that I had. Something along the lines of the Coffee Creature." Tommy says, starting to feel a little more alert, taking a bigger drink of the coffee followed by a spoonful of cereal.

"Let me guess, the Java Lava comes under attack by a monster made entirely out of coffee beans?" Dil guesses.

"Yeah. The creature starts wrecking the place, seemingly unstoppable." Tommy starts to regain his usual self.

"That is until a handsome young hero and his llama companion come in to save the day." Dil stands, putting one foot on his chair, striking a heroic pose.

"Actually, you end up getting eaten by the creature." Tommy laughs. Dil sinks back into his seat.

"Sweet. I've always wanted to be digested." He grins.

"And when all seems lost the queen of coffee, the master of java, Betty DeVille, comes swooping in, coffee cup in hand, saving the day." Tommy emphasizes this, swooping his hand before picking up his coffee cup, taking a drink.

"Did somebody say my name?" Betty greets, popping into the kitchen. Tommy, out of surprise, spits coffee onto Dil, spilling it on himself, both jumping around at the heat. "Geez, didn't think you two would be this happy to see me." She jokes.

"Betty, what are you doing here?" Dil asks, after the coffee cooled on him.

"Didn't your mom tell you I'd be coming in to check on you two pups?" She asks, wrangling their hair.

"Yeah, but we thought it'd be like, in the middle of the day." Tommy says, still fanning himself off.

"If I waited until then I wouldn't have caught you drinking coffee." She laughs. "Just because you're mom and dad think you're old enough to hoof it out for a weekend without them don't mean you're old enough to drink java. A cup of that stuff and you'd have so much energy you'd be bouncing off the walls ."

"Whoa, that would be awesome." Dil exclaims.

"You two better run along and get those pajamas into the wash before they stain. Coffee stains can be one tough mama to get out." She tells them. "Just thought I'd stop by to see how breakfast is going. I better get back and see if Phily's feeling alright. Moment he got home headed straight for the shower. He never takes showers on the weekend."

"I suspect you'll be seeing that more often in the coming month." Dil knowingly says. Betty leaves and Tommy and Dil start to head upstairs.

"Oh man." Tommy yawns, stretching. "I should probably take a shower myself. Coffee woke me up some but I'm still tired."

"I'm surprised you're not fully awake after getting a lap full of it." Dil smiles. Tommy gets a change of clothes from his room before going to the bathroom and Dil goes off to his room. "Good to see he managed to get his mind off Angelica." He happily says, changing out of his PJ's and into some normal clothes, well normal for Dil, topping it off with his Sherpa hat. "I think I'll start the day off with some _¡Hospital de Tentacion!_. Don't worry Enrique, I'm coming."

About fifteen minutes later. Tommy is staring at himself in the half fogged mirror, his jeans pulled on, his shirt in his hand. He swallows as the image of a topless Angelica standing in that very spot flashes in his mind. He tries to shake the image away but it persists. He clutches the sink counter, staring down.

"Why?" He asks, growling. "Why won't you get out of my head?" He slips his shirt on and Angelica in the pool flashes before him. He shakes his head, bending down, gripping his damp hair. "Why do I keep seeing you? Why do I feel the way I do when I see you? Why!" He stands back up, his heart beat quickening. He gets determined. "No. No, I refuse to let this keep me from enjoying my parents free weekend." He takes a deep breath. "No matter how confused and strange I feel, no matter how persistent the images and feelings get, I'm going to enjoy myself." With a strong hold on his determination he heads downstairs to see Dil laying on the couch watching T.V.

"Went with the strawberry scented shampoo I see, along with the" Dil takes a deep sniff, "raspberry conditioner. Bold move bro, mixing your fruits like that." Tommy stands behind the couch, shaking his head, saying something about Dil's amazing sense of smell.

"Dil, are you seriously going to spend our whole parents free weekend in front of the T.V. watching something you've already seen?" Tommy asks with a smile.

"Twas something I considered pondering, but if thee hath an enticing offer that may intrigue me as to say I was colored, then let thine words free and grace mine ears with their melody." Dil says with a poetic voice.

"I don't think I understood half of what you said." Tommy laughs. "But I was thinking we play something our parents no longer let us do inside the house. Not since we broke half of moms china." Dil bolts upwards and turns to his brother with wide eyes and a huge grin.

"You don't mean..." Dil starts. Tommy nods his head.

"That's right. Mutant Alien Zombie Hunter." He grins. Dil jumps off the couch, ecstatic.

"I'll go get my dart guns and my sock bombs." He excitedly says, running up the stairs. Tommy laughs as he goes over to a closet and pulls a box out. His laugh dies down and his smile fades.

"All I can do is try to distract myself from the thoughts." He sighs, pulling out a cardboard shield donned with duck tape. "Because these thoughts and feelings are so wrong, and it just keeps getting worse. And I don't want to worry anyone." Upstairs, Dil is digging through his closet.

"Tommy will definitely be over this whole Angelica thing by next week." He muses, holding up a dart gun, aiming with it. "And his Mutant, Alien, Zombie, and/or Hunter butt is going to be toast in ten minutes." He pulls the trigger and a dart flies out, sticking to the wall.

* * *

><p>"Ugh." Phil shivers, coming out of the bathroom, dressed in clean clothes, his hair still damp. "I feel... clean." He cringes. "It's... horrible." He sees Lil casually leaning against the wall next to the door, holding a flower, smelling.<p>

"Ah, that's nice." She dreamily says. "Being able to smell the scent of a flower in your presence." She smirks at him as he scowls at her.

"I hate you so much right now."

"I know." She giggles. He starts down the stairs when his mom comes up.

"Hold on there Philly." Betty stops him, popping a thermometer into his mouth, putting her hand on his forehead, forcing his eyes open, looking closely at them, looking in his ears.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Phil asks, Lil watching and giggling at the whole scene. The thermometer beeps and she takes it out, looking at the temperature.

"You don't have a fever. Your eyes aren't dilated or bloodshot. Nothing but wax in your ears. You feeling sick at all?" She asks him. He pushes by her.

"I'm fine mom." He tells her. She grabs his collar, stopping.

"Oh no you don't." Betty tells him. "You're not going anywhere til you tell me what's going on." Lil starts giggling more, trying to hold it back.

"Nothing is going on." Phil affirms.

"You think I'm going to buy that?" She crosses her arms, furrowing her brow. "You ain't never bathed on a weekend before."

"So I felt like doing something different. Big deal." Phil growls, getting annoyed.

"Oh no. Don't you use that tone with me young man." Betty scolds him. Her faces softens as a thought occurs to her. "Wait, are you doing this because you have a girlfriend?" Lil can't hold it in and she bursts out laughing, falling to the floor, holding her gut. Phil's face go slightly red.

"No mom. I don't have a girlfriend." He pushes his blush down. "I just felt like taking a shower, alright? Now can I please just go eat breakfast?" He begs.

"Okay." She says, still skeptical of the whole situation. "Just try not to make a mess. Howie made french toast this morning." Phil starts walking down the stairs again. "I know how you get your face all covered in syrup. Don't want to get your face all sticky and getting stuck to whoever your girlfriend is." Lil laughs even more, pounding her fist on the floor.

"Moooom." Phil groans, annoyed and blushing. "I told you I don't have a girlfriend. I just felt like showering. Why is that so hard to believe?" He says through gritted teeth, going into the kitchen. Betty goes up to the top where Lil was catching her breathe, laying on her back on the floor, face red, a laugh every now and again.

"And what's with you?" Betty asks her. She pushes herself up, wiping her eye, still laughing some.

"Oh, nothing." She says, laughing more.

"What about you Lilly. You got yourself a boyfriend?" She teases with a grin, crossing her arms. That stops Lil's laughter dead, as she looks wide eyed at her mom, slightly blushing.

"M-Mom! I-I... n-no... I don't..." Lil stammers. Betty starts to laugh.

"Not so funny when you're on the receiving end now is it?" She laughs. "Now get your patootie down to breakfast." Lil gratefully heads on down, joining Phil, their dad still at the stove cooking, noticing Phil was eating civilly, though he looked like he was struggling to do so.

"You just _so_ want to tear into them right now, don't you?" Lil teases, pouring syrup onto hers.

"Arg! This way is way to slow!" He complains, fumbling with his knife, unfamiliar with how to use it. Lil giggles.

"Here, like this." She says, holding her fork and knife, cutting a piece of her french toast off, popping it into her mouth. Phil tries it her way and manages to get a piece off.

"There we are. Come to papa." Phil smiles. He starts to bring the fork towards him when the piece falls off, landing in his lap. Lil giggles more. He scowls down at the piece of toast, switching it over to Lil. He shakes his head while she nods hers. "No." He declares.

"Yes." She sweetly says. He grabs a napkin and picks it up off himself, wiping at the syrup on his pants.

"There, that's plenty." He tells her.

"I don't think so." Lil tells him. "Those are dirty now, and wearing dirty clothes is disgusting." She explains, all the while smiling. He glares daggers at her, before sighing with defeat.

"Can I at least-"

"No. Now." She orders. He sighs again, getting up, not before casting her another glare, heading out of the kitchen, passing his mom.

"Where's he going?" Betty asks, noticing his plate still had most of its food on it. "He isn't full already is he?"

"Nope. He's just going to change his pants. Got some syrup on them." Lil explains, silently laughing to herself.

"Something fishy is going on here." Betty suspiciously says, narrowing her eyes, looking after him, rubbing her chin with her hand. "And I'm going to find out what."

* * *

><p>"Oh." Chuckie groans as he enters the Java Lava, his dad already behind the counter, getting things ready for the day. Chaz is struggling with some bags of coffee beans.<p>

"Hey Chuckie. You mind giving me a hand here?" He asks, nearly dropping the bags.

"Sure thing." Chuckie responds, less than enthusiastic. He grabs two bags from his pile and they put them in place behind the counter, ready for use.

"Thanks son." He breathes. "Have you seen Kimi around? We open in ten minutes and she works this morning." Chuckie grabs an apron and ties it on.

"She's not coming in. I'm taking her shifts for a while." He explains.

"Oh, ok." His dad says. "You and Kimi strike another deal?"

"Of sorts." Chuckie shrugs, preparing the espresso machine.

"How long you in for this time?" Chaz grabs a napkin dispenser and starts filling it with napkins.

"A month." He dejectedly says.

"Wowie, that must have been some deal." He exasperates.

"Yeah." Chuckie sighs again. "One of jellybean proportion." He goes to the front and switches the close sign to open. Shortly there after two cute girls come in, sitting down at the counter. Chuckie smiles and gets a little nervous. "Uh, hi there. What can I get you?"

"Yes, I'd like a lemon kiwi smoothie." The first girl, blond, smiles.

"And I'd like a banana raspberry yogurt smoothie please." The second girl, brunette, also smiles.

"Right away." Chuckie happily says. He puts the ingredients for the first smoothie in the blender, quickly making it and pouring it in a cup, giving it to the blond. "Here you go."

"Thank you." She sweetly says.

"I'll have yours in a minute." He opens up the freezer, grabbing the yogurt out and putting it by the blender. He starts to get the other ingredients as he over hears the two girls talking.

"The smoothies here are always the best." The blond says, enjoying hers.

"Are you sure it's the smoothies you enjoy, and not the view?" The brunette slyly says. Chuckie fumbles with the bowl of raspberries, spilling it on the floor, falling with it, squishing several of them and staining the apron. The two girls giggle, making him blush.

"S-sorry. You're smoothie will be ready in a moment." He sheepishly says, going in the back to grab more raspberries, where his dad was busy sweeping, whistling a song.

"Had an accident with the cherries?" Chaz asks. Chuckie takes the apron off, grabbing another.

"Raspberries. Do we keep them in the fridge back here?" He asks, opening the storage fridge.

"Yeah, they're right next to the strawberries." Chaz tells him, resuming his whistling. Chuckie fills the bowl and goes back out, putting some in the blender, resuming his eavesdropping on the two girls.

"He is kinda cute, even with that dorky apron." The blond whispers. He starts blushing. He opens the yogurt and grabs a serving spoon.

"Then you should totally ask him out." The brunette whispers back. Chuckie's arm jerks and the yogurt in the scoop goes flying out, hitting the blond girl in the face, getting on her shirt, making her gasp, standing up.

"Shoot, I'm so sorry." Chuckie apologizes, grabbing some napkins and holds them out to her. She glares at him.

"You ruined my brand new top." She seethes, snatching the napkins out of his hand.

"I'm so, so sorry." He apologizes again. After wiping her face off she picks up her smoothie and throws it in his face, turning and storming out. The other one glowers at him.

"Nice going loser." She says, voice full of venom, before following her friend. Chuckie takes his glasses off, cleaning them, dejectedly sighing.

"This is going to be a long month." He groans. His dad then comes out.

"Whoa. What happened?" Chaz asks.

"I got yogurt on a girls top." Chuckie says, wiping his face off.

"Oh, I see." His dad understands. "Well lets get this mess cleaned up." They both grab rags and start cleaning up. "I don't know what deal you made with Kimi but I'll tell you what. Since you're taking her shifts for the month, I'll give you double the allowance until you're done." Chuckie freezes for a moment, surprised.

"Really?" He asks, shocked, looking over at his dad. Chaz smiles at him.

"Of course." He says. "I figure since you'll be doing double the work, you should get double the pay." Chuckie smiles and gives his dad a hug.

"Wow. Thanks dad." He exclaims. They finish cleaning up, and Chuckie's making a banana and onion smoothie for a customer. "Looks like things won't be so bad after all." He forgot to put the top on and gets splattered. "...for the most part."

* * *

><p>Angelica was sitting at her dresser, dressed for the day, brushing her damp hair, looking at herself in the mirror. She had grabbed Cynthia out of her secret hiding place and had her sitting on the dresser with her.<p>

"I know I haven't talked to you in a while, but something horrible happened and I need to talk to an old friend." Angelica says to her doll. "You remember Tommy right? My annoying cousin? Well his pool was finished yesterday so he, his weird brother, and all his friends, along with me, got together to have a little party in it. Then Susie started showing off, you know how she is. All of those preteens were getting all excited because she could do a little dive. She started to get a big head, goading me into trying to best her, so I had to put her in her place." She sets her brush down, sadness crossing her face.

"I bested her of course, performing a spectacular dive. But because I was such an idiot, refusing to listen to reason, I had an oversized bikini on." She looks at her doll. "I'm sure you can figure what happened next. When I came out of the water, my... top... had fallen off." A flash of her embarrassment shows. "For a full fifteen seconds I had showed all of them my... breasts. Even Tommy and Dil, my own two cousins." She quivers a bit, picking up Cynthia. "I'm certain you can imagine how horrible it was. I ended up hiding upstairs for a while, until Susie talked me into coming down for dinner. I managed to fake being fine but, the whole time I was down there I felt like they were laughing at me the way they didn't say a word about it. I was only barely able to keep a hold on myself." She hugs Cynthia. "So you can see why I need to talk to you."

"You know Angelica, you could always talk to me." Susie says, leaning in her doorway. Angelica jumps in surprise, falling off her seat, Cynthia landing on top of her.

"S-Susie?" She exclaims, getting up off the ground, holding Cynthia behind her back. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" She says with forced anger.

"Your door was open." She shrugs. "And I could hear you talking." Angelica looks down, bringing Cynthia up to her chest, sitting down on her bed.

"How much did you here?" Angelica sullenly asks.

"Enough to know you feel worse than you let on." She answers, stepping into her room, shutting the door. "Angelica, no one is laughing at you. None of us find this funny."

"Then why didn't anyone say anything, huh?" She heatedly asks.

"Because we all knew how embarrassing that was and all shared in the embarrassment." Susie explains.

"I would have said something if it happened to you." Angelica informs, her words heating up more.

"What, did you want us to have a discussion about how unnoticeable your tan lines were or give an opinion about how perky we think your breasts are?" Susie asks, heat in her words.

"Anything would have been better than pretending interest in and making jokes about some second rate Spanish soap opera that hardly anyone understands." She stands, her anger obvious. "And Tommy was staring at me the whole time."

"Wait. Tommy was staring at you?" She repeats, surprised at this.

"Well duh. What else could possibly have been bugging him the whole time?" Angelica spits. "He was obviously fighting the urge to burst out laughing. After years of me yelling at him and his friends, telling them what to do, he probably sees this as payback. That's probably why he and Dil went upstairs, so they could laugh behind my back."

"Angelica, stop." Susie orders her friend. "Tommy and Dil were not laughing at you. None of us were and none of us find this funny in the slightest. I mean listen to yourself. Do you honestly believe anything you're saying?" Angelica looks unsure of herself, biting her lip. "Well?" Angelica surrenders, sitting back on her bed.

"No." She quietly says, holding Cynthia to her chest again. Susie sits next to her, putting a comforting arm around her.

"We're your friends Angelica. I mean sure, sometimes we'd like to see something embarrassing happen to you," Angelica casts her a quick glare, "but we'd never want anything like that to happen. As for why Tommy was staring at you, I think he was still stunned at what happened. I mean he _was_ in a daze after it happened." Angelica holds Cynthia in her lap, staring at her for a while.

"Thanks Susie." She smiles, looking at her friend. "I don't know what I was thinking, believing you guys were laughing at me."

"It's just a natural response for you." Susie explains. "You find it easier to be angry at others than to deal with the problem."

"You make it sound like I'm some hot head." Angelica frowns.

"Well, you are easy to set off." She laughs. Angelica smiles and laughs with her.

"It's going to be hard for me to be around them, at least the guys. More so Tommy and Dil." She says.

"Just give it some time. You'll get over it." She reassures her. "And I don't mean to take the place of Cynthia, I know how important she is to you. But just so you know, you can always talk to me if you ever need to." They embrace in a hug.

"Thanks Susie." She smiles. She stands and places Cynthia on a shelf, visible to the whole room. "I think you've earned yourself some time out of that stuffy hiding place. Sorry I have to keep you there but Savannah would never let me live it down if she found out I still had you."

"Of course." Susie laughs. Angelica turns to her.

"It's a good thing you're over here. Saves me the trouble of having to call you."

"And what did you want with me?"

"You're going to help me shop for some new bras." Angelica tells her, grabbing her purse.

"What's wrong with the ones you have now?" Angelica turns her back to Susie, pulling up the back of her shirt to reveal the red marks in her back.

"The ones I had kept digging into my back with their stupid hooks." She turns back to her, dropping her shirt. "So I trashed them and need to get some new ones ASAP."

"Shall I call Kimi and Lil? Having them join us would certainly help you get over the wardrobe malfunction you suffered yesterday faster. And if it'll make you feel better we could make a few jokes about it." Susie suggests. Angelica frowns at her, thinking about it.

"Fine, go ahead." She waves her hand. "You're the expert on making people feel better here, not me."

"You're right. You're specialty is making them feel worse." She laughs. Angelica casts her a quick glare before cracking a smile.

* * *

><p>"Die zombie!" Dil exclaims, chasing Tommy through the kitchen, shooting his dart gun, missing and hitting the fridge. He pulls the dart off, a pop sound from the release of the suction.<p>

"Don't let your guard down mutant." Tommy grins, throwing a rolled up sock at him.

"Hit the deck!" He dives under the table, knocking a chair over. He points his gun at Tommy and shoots. Tommy blocks with his cardboard and duck tape shield, dropping it and pointing his own gun at him and fires. Dil quickly rolls out of the way as Tommy retreats into the living room, hiding behind the overturned coffee table.

"Surrender you mutant!" Tommy yells out. "And I might just let you live after eating your brains!" Dil presses up against the door frame.

"Never!" He courageously shouts. "You shall never dine on the magnificence that is my mutated brain zombie!" He peaks his head out and quickly retracts it as a dart comes whizzing by. He reaches down and grabs the sock ball Tommy had thrown at him. He dashes out and throws it, bouncing off the arm chair landing next to Tommy.

"Run!" He exclaims, jumping out of his protection and getting hit by a dart in the stomach.

"Gotcha!" Dil triumphantly smiles. Tommy grabs his chest, falling onto the couch all dramatic like, making over exaggerated moans and groans. Dil stands over him as he lays on the couch, motionless, tongue hung out. "That put's the score five to two now." Tommy pulls the trigger on his gun, hitting Dil in the chest, grinning up at him.

"Actually, make that four to three." Tommy laughs. "You forgot, can't take a zombie down unless you take out their head."

"Uh no, I won." Dil disputes, holding his gun up, tapping it. "Explosive rounds, remember? Tore you in half." Tommy sits up.

"Zombies can still live even if they are blown in half. They just have to claw along the ground to move." He rolls to the floor and acts it out, moaning like a zombie. Dil laughs.

"Ok, ok, you won... this time." He grins. "But I'm going alien next round." They're about to collect their darts and sock bombs when they here a frantic knocking at the door.

"Wonder who that is." Tommy says. Dil looks out the window and sees Phil.

"It's Phil, and he seems very distressed." Dil tells him. Tommy barely opens the door and Phil rushes in, quickly closing it behind him. He grabs a hold of Tommy and starts shaking him.

"You gotta hide me man!" Phil frantically says. "I can't take it. They're driving me insane!"

"Whoa, easy there Phil." Tommy pries his friend off. "What's wrong? Who's driving you insane?"

"You been hitting the coffee Phil?" Dil inquires. "A cup of that stuff and you'll be bouncing off the walls. At least that's what your mom says."

"It's my mom and Lil. They're driving me nuts!" Phil continues frantically, pacing back and forth.

"Wait, do you smell like," Dil sniffs twice, "Lil's herbal shampoo and conditioner?" He asks, shocked.

"Yes!" He cries. "That was the only stuff in there! And to make matters worse she made me go and change my pants before finishing breakfast simply because I spilled a little syrup on them."

"Couldn't you have just wiped it off with a napkin or something?" Tommy asks.

"That's what I did. But she said they were still dirty. And to top it off, after breakfast she made me clean my room, saying that it's a disgusting habit to have a dirty room." Phil was pulling at his hair. "She's been buggin me all day, saying I can't do this or I can't do that or I have to do this or I have to do that."

"Well you did lose a bet saying you'd bathe twice daily and avoid any of your habits that measure on Lil's grossdar." Dil reminds him. "Just like Tommy here has to do all my chores." He grins at Tommy.

"Yes, yes, I know. I lost that stupid bet." He dismisses. "But if that wasn't bad enough my mom is on my case about the way I've been acting, how I'm being clean. She's convinced I'm doing all this because I've got a girlfriend." Both Tommy and Dil's eyes go wide.

"You have a girlfriend?" They say in unison.

"No!" He growls. "My mom _thinks _I have one. That that's why I'm being clean and not doing any of my so called 'gross' habits even though I keep denying it."

"Why not just tell her about the bet?" Dil suggests.

"Are you mad?" Phil practically yells. "Last time we told our parents about a bet we made they threatened to ground us for two weeks! Saying something about underage gambling."

"Ok, I think I understand." Tommy says. "Lil's ruthlessly enforcing the bet while your mom is trying to pry details about your 'girlfriend.'"

"If it weren't for Susie calling Lil to go out shopping, I'd never have been able to sneak away." He explains.

"Huh, wonder why Lil didn't give Tommy a call to go out shopping with them?" Dil muses. "He's under obligation to join them whenever to give his fashion advice."

"Don't jinx it." Tommy shushes. "She might change her mind and give me a call."

"Who cares about Tommy's fashion obsession, I need a place to hide from my mom!" Phil says. He looks out the window and sees his mom approaching. "She's coming!" He starts running up the stairs, stopping halfway. "If she asks, I'm not here." And he runs up. Tommy and Dil look at each other before Betty comes walking in. She looks around, noticing the flipped coffee table and darts all over the floor.

"Jeez Louise." She exclaims. "It looks like a battle field in here."

"Uh, it technically was." Tommy sheepishly says, with a sheepish smile.

"You... won't tell our parents we were playing Mutant Alien Zombie Hunter inside, will you?" Dil hopefully asks.

"It doesn't look like you broke anything." She comments. "So long as you keep it that way, I won't tell them you pups were playing." She smiles, wrangling their hair.

"I suppose it's about time for lunch, which is why you've come to check on us." Tommy guesses.

"Right you are there. That and to get Phil. Saw him running in this direction shortly after Lil headed off to the mall." She was scanning the room, looking for any sign of him. Phil was peeking around the corner of the stairs, watching and listening but staying out of sight. Dil gets a sly grin.

"Oh, you just missed him." Dil says. "He came running through, asking if he could borrow some of Tommy's deodorant, seeing as he doesn't have any."

"What? No he-" Tommy starts. Dil elbows him, giving him a look. Tommy understands and he joins in the fun. "He did more than borrow my deodorant. He also wanted some advice."

"Advice for what?" Betty asks them. Tommy and Dil share a look and smile wider.

"Girls." They say at the same time. Betty snaps her fingers.

"Hot dog I knew it. He does have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, but he's really embarrassed about it and he doesn't want anyone to know." Dil whispers.

"He only met her last week." Tommy says. "Only reason me and Dil know is because we were with him when they met."

"My little Philly's growing up." She sniffs. "I just knew that's why he's been acting so clean."

"Yeah, he mentioned something about you bothering him all day." Dil comments.

"Oh ho, I'm his mom." She laughs. "It's my job to give him a hard time about his girlfriend."

"Well, I think me and Dil are going to clean up our mess and make some lunch." Tommy tells her.

"I'll be over around dinner to check on things. You two make sure not to break anything." Betty waves, heading home. Dil held up his hand, counting down with his fingers. 3, 2, 1.

"What the heck are you two thinking!" Phil yells, furious, coming down the stairs two at a time. "Telling my mom I have a girlfriend and saying I came over for advice!"

"Sorry Phil, we just couldn't resist." Tommy laughs, along with Dil. "But it'll get your mom to let up on you."

"Great. Now I have to fabricate some story about some girl that doesn't exist and keep all the details straight which I won't be able to do at all!" He seethes, pacing again.

"Look at it this way. Would you rather tell her the truth and be grounded for two weeks or more? Or would you rather keep up a facade about having a girlfriend?" Dil asks. Phil thinks about it for a while and he slumps his shoulders in defeat.

"Fake girlfriend it is." He sighs. He then frowns at them both. "But I won't be able to keep the details straight. You know I'm not good with complicated lies."

"Write them down on a piece of paper." Dil suggests. "That way you can look them over whenever you need to."

"Fine." He huffs. "Since I'm off with Petunia right now, I'm staying here with you guys for lunch and join you for some Mutant Alien Zombie Hunter."

"Petunia?" Tommy asks.

"My girlfriend." Phil deadpans.

"Oh, right. Gotcha." He smirks.

* * *

><p>Tommy was standing in front of the sink, doing the dishes, Dil and him having finished up dinner. He looks out the window, to the pool, the image flashing. He shakes his head and gets back to scrubbing the plate. Dil comes strolling in, whistling.<p>

"So, how's the dishes doing?" He asks with a smirk.

"Don't worry, they'll be cleaned." Tommy says. "It'll be as if you did them yourself."

"I knew you could handle it." Dil opens the fridge and grabs a juice, detaching the straw and sticking it in. "So what about you? How are you handling things?"

"I'm doing the dishes just fine, as you can see." He sarcastically says.

"That's not what I mean." He states. Tommy pauses in his cleaning, quickly resuming.

"I'm fine Dil." He claims, rinsing the plate off, setting it aside, starting on the other one.

"Really? Could have had me fooled." Dil shrugs. "Cause I've counted three times that you've ceased washing to stare out at the pool before shaking your head. And you always manage to win more rounds than me in Mutant Alien Zombie Hunter." Tommy sighs, dries his hands off, and sits at the table. Dil grabs another juice and gives it to him, straw already in.

"I don't know why I thought I could hide it from you."

"Because you're stubborn." He simply states. "It's a Pickles thing."

"Honestly? I don't know how I am." Tommy takes a sip. "I keep seeing those images of her."

"Images?" Dil asks, leaning forward. "What do you mean images?" Tommy realizes his folly.

"I-I didn't say that." He tries to cover. "I said image... is?"

"Yes, yes you did. You've seen Angelica more than once." He pries.

"Alright, fine, yes." Tommy growls. "I woke up late last night, after only a few hours of sleep. I went upstairs to use the restroom and she was in there. She had taken her pajama top and bra off to yell at her bra for the hooks digging into her back."

"Whoa." Dil says, bemused.

"And now, I can't stop thinking about it. And it makes me feel... wrong and weird. I don't know how to describe it." He sighs. "It's like, I don't want to think about and yet... I do."

"Well, you felt better today than you did yesterday after seeing her, right?" He asks.

"Yeah, I guess." He replies, unsure.

"So, that means tomorrow you should feel even better. You were able to do other things and concentrate on other things today." Dil reassures him. "Chances are you'll continue to feel like this, but over time the feeling will grow weaker and you'll get over it."

"You're probably right." Tommy agrees. "I just wish I knew why I am the only one being affected by this so much. Why aren't you bugging like I am?"

"I'm not as mature as you are? I believe in things most people find absurd? I've taught myself to talk to dolphins, fish, and squirrels?" He suggests. "Honestly I don't know. You'd figure Chuckie would be bugging more than you would, seeing as he's older and more hormonal than you are."

"Please, I don't want to think that this is a result of any hormones." He cringes. "I'll just stick with the 'you're weird' idea."


	5. She's Staying How Long?

"About time you got up." Tommy happily says, standing at the stove cooking, already dressed, as Dil strolls in still in his PJ's.

"I see you're uncharacteristically chipper this morning." Dil yawns, sitting at the table at one of the two plates with a glass of milk by each. "I take it you either slept well or got a visit from our alien brothers."

"I slept like a baby." He brings the pan over and serves out some eggs and bacon for Dil and himself, setting it in the sink before joining Dil at the table.

"I'm glad to see you're getting a handle on the whole situation." He takes a bite of his eggs. "And that your cooking is edible."

"Well, being as tired as I was yesterday helped." Tommy takes a bite of his bacon. "But I do feel less anxious about the whole ordeal. I mean sure, the images have flashed eight times already this morning, but it's not as bad as it was yesterday."

"See T, I told you you'd feel better today." Dil proclaims. "And I'll bet you that tomorrow morning they'll only flash half that amount."

"You sure you want to do that Dil?" He smirks. "Cause I can always force the images to flash." He laughs a little, taking a bite of his egg.

"I think we've done enough betting to last us a month." He comments, both laughing. "So what's the plan for today? It is Easter after all."

"Don't know. Might give Phil a call and see if he wants to hang at the Java Lava with Chuckie. Chuckie's dad is decorating the place and plans on dressing up like the Easter Bunny." He chuckles. "It should prove to be entertaining."

"Yeah, but doesn't Betty work today? I think Phil will want to try and avoid his mom as much as he can."

"Oh, right, Petunia." Tommy sarcastically laughs.

"So that's her name eh?" Betty says, walking into the kitchen.

"Uh, Betty, question." Dil starts. "How did you get in? We locked the door last night. Are you able to take a gaseous form and squeeze through even the smallest of cracks?" Betty laughs and holds up a key.

"House key." She grins. "Your parents left me a copy before they left. You two didn't think you could keep me out did ya?"

"I don't think a six inch steel door could keep you out." Tommy quips, him a Dil laughing.

"So Petunia's the name of Phil's girlfriend eh." Betty says, going over to the coffee maker and proceeds to make herself a cup of coffee. "I tried grilling him last night at dinner but he didn't budge an inch. Kept denying the whole thing."

"And I take it you're going to try and get information out of us, right?" Dil guesses, a wavering smile.

"Darn skippy I am." She declares, leaning against the counter. "And the two of you are going to tell me everything you know." Dil and Tommy share concerned glances.

"Look, as much fun as it sounds embarrassing Phil by telling his mom about his girlfriend," Tommy starts explaining, "we already broke our promise by telling you about her in the first place."

"Yeah, Phil stopped by yesterday on the way home and we told him we told you. He was pretty upset by that and we really don't want to say anymore." Dil adds.

"Okay. You rascals got me." Betty sighs, taking a drink of her coffee. "I won't make you break your promise." They give a sigh of relief.

"Uh, just out of curiosity, how were you planning on 'making' us talk?" Dil inquires. Betty gets a grin.

"Good ol' blackmail of course." She laughs. "You don't want your parents to know about the cup of java or the game indoors." Both of their eyes go wide, jaws dropping as Betty laughs louder. "I'm just messing with ya." They smile.

"You really had us going there." Tommy says. "Don't you have to get to the Java Lava to help with the decorations?"

"Ah Chaz and Chuckie can handle that. In the mean time I got a twin to press." She downs her coffee, setting the cup by the sink and leaves.

"Do you really think she would have blackmailed us?" Tommy asks Dil.

"Don't know." He shrugs. "Doubt it." They suddenly hear knocking and look to see Phil at the glass sliding doors.

"Guys, open up. Let me in." Phil cries out to them. Tommy gets up and lets him in.

"Phil, what are you doing here?" Tommy asks him, noticing a bit of dirt on his surprisingly clean pants.

"I used the loose board in the fence to get over here." He explains, wiping off the dirt.

"That explains the how, but not the why." Dil points out. Phil starts pacing back and forth, pulling at his hair.

"It's maddening over there." He stresses. "Dinner was a nightmare. My mom kept pestering me to tell her about my girlfriend."

"We heard." Tommy says, sympathetically placing his hand on his shoulder. "Your mom said you kept denying you had one."

"I don't have one!" He snaps. "Besides, I couldn't think of anything to say." The doorbell rings. Phil hides behind Tommy. "I'm not here."

"Dude, don't worry. If it was your mom, she would have just walked right in." Tommy tells him. The doorbell rings again. "I'll go see who it is." He goes and looks through the peephole, seeing Lil standing there with her arms crossed and a grin. He opens it. "Hi Lil, what's up?"

"Hey Tommy. Just thought I'd come over and hang out for a while." Lil simply says. "You know, enjoy the parents free environment."

"Sure, come on in." He invites, closing the door behind her. "Me and Dil were just finishing up breakfast."

"Please don't tell me Dil cooked?" She asks with a worried expression. "His cooking is worse than Kimi's and that's saying something." The two head into the kitchen, Dil sitting at the table, eating his breakfast, Phil nowhere in sight.

"Nope, Tommy is the one who did the cooking this morning. It's not half bad." Dil comments. Tommy and Lil sit at the table and Tommy continues to eat. "And I cook bad on purpose so I won't be asked to cook."

"I'll take your word for it. I also came over to ask Phil about this whole girlfriend thing." A smirk comes across her face, Tommy and Dil almost choking on their food, coughing. "Come on Phil, get out from under the sink." She calls out. The cabinet doors swing open and Phil crawls out. "Why does mom think you went out with your girlfriend yesterday? You don't even have one."

"Hey, it wasn't my idea." He defends. He points at Tommy and Dil. "It was them. They're the ones who told mom I have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, so she'd leave you alone about why you're being so clean all of a sudden." Tommy defends. "You're the one who told us your parents threatened to ground you guys if they found out you made another bet."

"I see." Lil comments, tapping her chin. "By switching moms focus from your cleanliness to a girlfriend, there's less chance that the bet will slip up. I'd certainly hate to get grounded."

"I gotta tell her something about Petunia sooner or later." Phil paces back and forth.

"Petunia?" Lil questions.

"The name of his 'girlfriend'." Dil explains.

"Ah."

"And that's all I've managed!" Phil says, starting to get frantic. "I can't think of any details, of what she's looks like, what her interests are, nothing!"

"How about, instead of making up all these details, you just describe someone you already know." Dil suggests.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea." Tommy agrees.

"If you want, you can describe your beautiful, talented, and intelligent sister." Lil smiles, flipping her hair a little.

"If I had one I would." Phil dryly says, granting a quick scowl from Lil.

"How about Wally?" Dil makes another suggestion. "You used to date her, or at least you two mutually liked each other. It's someone you know who you could describe with the minimal chance your mom figures out it's a fake."

"Wally isn't exactly the kind of girl who would make Phil bathe regularly." Lil says.

"But, he does make a good point." Phil says with a thoughtful expression. "I do know enough about her that I could use her traits as Petunia's." He looks over at Lil. "And you're her friend, so you know plenty about her as well and could help me."

"Oh no Phillip. You are not dragging me into your lie." She declines.

"Didn't you just suggest to Phil two seconds ago that he describe you?" Tommy points out.

"Besides, Lilian, if I'm found out on the bet that means you're found out as well." Phil states. The three of them look expectantly at her.

"Oh alright." Lil concedes. "But you're telling her she has black hair, not brown, to help throw off any suspicions." She tells him. "She is on the soccer team after all."

"Now that that's all cleared up, how about we all head to the Java Lava?" Dil says.

"You guys go ahead. I'd rather wait until tonight before facing my mom again." Phil wearily says. "It'll give me a chance to prepare myself for any questions she might have." He starts to head out the back.

"Where are you going? The front door is that way." Tommy points towards the front.

"And risk being seen by mom? No thank you." He shakes his head. "If you need me, I'll be at the park."

"Steering clear of the mud puddles?" Lil asks with a raised eyebrow, sounding more like an order.

"Yes." Phil grumbles. "Staying clean, avoiding doing anything dirty or disgusting or fun." He goes out the back and climbs over the fence.

"Sweetness. Let me go get changed real quick." Dil races upstairs. Tommy picks up their empty plates and takes them to the sink.

"Tommy?" Lil says, her cheery disposition replaced with concern. "Do you mind if I ask what was bugging you Friday?" She asks. Tommy almost drops one of the plates but gets his grip on it, going unnoticed by Lil. "You were acting so weird and I was worried." He smiles and sits at the table with Lil.

"I was just weirded out from seeing Angelica is all." Tommy answers, the image quickly flashing. "But Dil help set me straight."

"I know how that feels. It was really weird when Phil saw me in my bra." She shudders at remembering that. "Though yesterday, Susie called me to go out shopping with her, Kimi, and Angelica. Susie said it was to help Angelica get over her embarrassment, and told us to make a few jokes about it."

"And did you joke about it?" He inquires, intrigued.

"We made a few, yes. And surprisingly she didn't get angry in the slightest." She responds. "In fact, she actually joked along with us."

"Well I'm glad you and Kimi decided not to make me join you." He laughs.

"We... weren't exactly shopping for clothes we'd want you to see anyway." She comments, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh... I uh, see." He coughs. Dil comes sliding into the kitchen.

"Let's go you two. Java Lava awaits." Dil cheerfully says.

* * *

><p>"So Chuckie, how did you enjoy your double shift yesterday?" Kimi asks with a grin, sipping on a smoothie Chuckie had just made for her. Chaz was standing on a chair by the door, putting up some decorations on the wall.<p>

"Oh, you know. Got yogurt on a girls shirt, got a face full of smoothie, dad doubled my allowance for the month. The usual." Chuckie nonchalantly replies. Kimi gasps, coughing up some of the smoothie onto the counter, Chuckie promptly cleaning it up.

"Dad what?" She asks, disbelieving. Chuckie grins.

"Oh, yeah, I told dad I was taking your shifts for the month, so he decided that since I'm going to be working twice as much I should get twice as much." He smirks at her. "Makes you wish Phil won instead of Lil, don't it."

"As if." Kimi regains herself. "That would mean I'd also have to be Tommy's servant for a month. Besides," She takes a sip of her smoothie, "you covering my shifts still gives me plenty of extra free time. And I wouldn't want you to be _too _miserable." She laughs. Chaz starts to lose balance on the chair as Betty walks in. He falls off and Betty catches him.

"Oh, thanks Betty." Chaz says, adjusting his glasses.

"Having a little trouble with the decorations?" Betty asks.

"No, that was the last of them." He stands, pushing on his back to stand straight, cracking being heard. "You mind helping me with the Easter Bunny costume? I have a little trouble after I get the sleeves on."

"Sure thing there Chazzy. And I can tell you about how weird Phil's been acting since he got a secret girlfriend. Well, weird for Phil." They both head into the back, Kimi and Chuckie hearing everything.

"Did you hear that?" Kimi turns to Chuckie, both in disbelief.

"Phil has a girlfriend?" Chuckie says. "When did that happen?" Just then Tommy, Dil, and Lil come walking in.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Tommy greets.

"Lil, did you know your brother has a girlfriend?" Kimi blurts out.

"Phil does not have a girlfriend." Lil states.

"Then why did we just hear your mom telling our dad that he does?" Chuckie asks, practically demanding. "She says he's been acting all weird." Lil, Dil, and Tommy exchange looks before laughing. "What? What's so funny?"

"If you guys know something, tell us." Kimi insists. They're laughter dies down.

"Phil doesn't have a girlfriend." Tommy says with a smile, wiping his eye. "Me and Dil told his mom that so she'd leave him alone about why he's being so clean."

"That's what she meant by acting weird." Dil adds.

"We don't want my mom to know he's being clean and not disgusting because of the bet." Lil explains. "If she found out me and Phil had been making bets again she'd ground the both of us for at least two weeks."

"So he's going to make up a fake girlfriend to explain it." Kimi understands. The door to the back swings open as Chaz, in an Easter bunny suit, falls through it.

"You okay there Chaz?" Betty asks, helping him up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Cracking is heard. "At least, I think I am."

"So Chuck, since you're working today, how about whipping up some smoothies for us?" Dil asks him, leaning on the counter, twirling his finger in the air.

"That depends. Have you paid off your tab yet?" Chuckie raises his eyebrow.

"Come on. You know my parents took my allowance away for a month after I set the school copying machine on fire." He begs. "I'll pay it next week, I swear."

"I think Chuckie could cover you this time, seeing as his allowance has been doubled." Kimi tells them.

"Really? Dude, how did you manage that?" Tommy congratulates his friend, giving him a fist bump.

"Dad decided to double it for the month since I'm taking Kimi's shifts for the month." Chuckie explains, smiling.

"Sounds like your bet backfired Kimi." Lil laughs.

"With Chuckie at least. But Tommy is still our fashion slave for a year." Kimi grins, her and Lil giggling. "And don't forget, you better-"

"Not make any plans for Tuesday, I know." Tommy finishes for her. "Lil only reminded me like, a hundred times on the way here."

"Which reminds me. Tommy, do you think that this apron is dorky?" Chuckie asks, getting to work on the smoothies. Kimi and Lil cast him a glare. "What? I'm being serious here." He holds the blender in front of him in defense.

"It's a regular white apron with the Java Lava logo on it. It'd only be dorky if it was multicolored or had stripes or something." He says.

"What's up with you two?" Dil asks Kimi and Lil. "You two seem to get all protective whenever someone makes fun of Tommy's taste for fashion."

"It's a girl thing, you wouldn't understand." Kimi dismisses, drinking her smoothie. Meanwhile, right outside the Java Lava.

"Do I have too?" Angelica whines to Susie.

"Things are already smooth with Kimi and Lil. And the sooner you face the guys, the better." Susie encourages her. Angelica looks through the window to see the five of them in there.

"Whelp, Phil's missing. Guess we'll have to try some other time." She excuses and starts to walk away. Susie grabs her and stops her.

"Angelica." She gives her a 'you're gonna do this whether you like it or not' look.

"Oh alright." She groans, slumping her shoulders. "Let's get this over with." The two of them enter and Tommy notices Angelica first, his heartbeat instantly quickening. Before anyone else can notice them, though Dil does notice, he excuses himself to the restroom.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Susie greets, her and Angelica joining the group, minus Tommy.

"We're just trying to figure out why Lil and Kimi are so defensive of Tommy whenever anyone makes fun of his talent for fashion." Chuckie explains.

"Sounds riveting." Angelica dryly says, rolling her eyes.

"Where is Tommy anyways?" Susie wonders. "We saw him here before we came in."

"He's in the restroom. Might be in there a while." Dil covers, knowing what Tommy's really doing: hiding. "Stomach was acting up last night, and I think it's caught up to him."

"Oh, well I just wanted to tell you both that I had a lot of fun Friday." She tells him, smiling. "I think it'd be cool if we did that again sometime."

"Totally." Kimi agrees. "And maybe Angelica can show us how to do that amazing dive she did."

"I would love to learn that." Lil gets a sly smile. "Though I think you should skip teaching the landing." The four girls giggle, Angelica a bit uncomfortably. Dil and Chuckie exchange confused looks.

"Are they joking about..." Chuckie trails off.

"It would seem." Dil thoughtfully says, rubbing his chin, a grin coming across along with a thought. He puts an arm around Angelica's shoulders, laughing, the four girls no longer giggling and giving him confused looks. "That dive sure was something. But do you think you could have flirted with Chuckie in a more subtle manner?" Dil goes back to his seat, still grinning, though it fades when he notices both Chuckie and Angelica, along with Lil, Kimi, and Susie, all had wide eyes and dropping jaws. He uneasily looks at them all. "I, uh, thought we were joking about it... was that a bit much?" Angelica blinks, snapping out of her shock.

"As if I'd flirt with Finster." She crosses her arms, smirking. "I wouldn't flirt with him even if he was the last boy on Earth." Everyone aside from Dil switch their gaze over to Angelica now. Dil gets his smile back and quickly plays off her comment.

"Ah, you're right, my bad. Phil's more your type."

"Yeah, if I feel like throwing up." She comes back, the two of them laughing. Soon the others realize that Angelica isn't going to blow her top and join in their laughter. Shortly thereafter Angelica leaves, saying something about hanging with Savannah.

"Wow. When you said that Dil, I thought for sure you were dead." Susie says, astonished.

"So did I." He laughs, relieved.

"I was already halfway to calling an ambulance." Kimi jokes, holding up her cellphone.

"I was ready to hold her back and tell you to start running." Lil jests.

"I was about to run and scream in terror, hoping you'd follow my lead." Chuckie says, completely serious. Tommy then enters through the front.

"Uh, hey guys. What did I miss?" He asks, trying to act casual.

"Tommy?" Lil says, confused. "I thought you went to the restroom."

"Oh, uh, yeah, I-I did. But the, uh, door got stuck and I had to climb out the window." He lies. What he really did was go to the restroom, climb out the window and wait outside until Angelica left. The others look at him strange but believe him, except for Dil who knows the truth.

* * *

><p>Phil was laying in the grass in the shade of a tree, head resting on a root, sighing as he stared up at the clouds. He looked at his watch and shook his head, being nowhere near the time to head home. His head was swirling with thoughts, trying to pin down the different traits of Wally and apply them to Petunia but failing miserably.<p>

"Whacha doing?" A voice asks. Phil looks up to see none other than Wally herself standing over him.

"Watching the clouds, thinking about... stuff." Phil answers, laying his head back down.

"Mind if I join you?" Wally asks.

"Pull up a root." He invites her. Maybe by having Wally here he can pin down the details better. She sits down next to him, leaning her back against the tree. A memory comes to Phil, about the last time the two of them watched the clouds together, when they liked each other. That was a good time, but he was kinda glad that they were just friends now.

"Whacha thinking about?" She interrupts his memory.

"Lost a bet to Lil and now I need to come up with a fake girlfriend to explain to our mom why I'm going to be clean for a month. That way we won't get in trouble for making bets again."

"You? Clean?" She skeptically says.

"That's not fresh air you're smelling right now, that's my shampoo and deodorant." He sarcastically replies. She sniffs the air.

"You're right, that's... Lil's herbal shampoo?" She looks at him funny.

"What? It was the only shampoo nearby." He defends.

"Does that mean you're not allowed to play soccer?"

"Huh." Phil furrows his brow. "I never thought of that. I suppose I still can, so long as I shower and change afterwords to appease the overlord." Wally giggles at his joke.

"I'm certain she's not that bad." She smiles. He tilts his head back and looks at her, upside down from his point of view.

"She made me change my pants, before finishing breakfast, for spilling a small amount of syrup on them." He flatly explains, putting his head back. She raises her eyebrows.

"Okay, that's definitely worthy of overlord status." She laughs. "So how's this fake girlfriend coming along?"

"I've got a name, hair color, that we'll break up after the month is up, and... that's about it." He shrugs.

"Don't you think it'll be easier to come up with details if you practice describing her to someone for when you tell your mom?" Wally suggests.

"Mmm." Phil nods his head. "That's not a bad idea."

"I've got some time to kill. You can describe this 'girlfriend' of yours to me." She volunteers.

"Sounds good. First off, her name is Petunia." And Phil starts describing the fake girl to Wally, or more precisely describing Wally to Wally. After about an hour or so of descriptions and questions from Wally, he finishes.

"Wow." She expresses. "You've come up with a very real sounding girl."

"I... didn't actually come up with her, I'm just describing someone else I know, replacing the name and hair color." He admits. Wally warmly smiles.

"You must really admire her, with the way you described her."

"Yeah. We used to spend a lot of time together. We were really close. We still are close but we realized that sometimes we need to give each other space." Phil says, slightly embarrassed, thinking that Wally figured out it's her.

"Lil's lucky to have a brother like you." She happily sighs.

"Yeah... wait, what?" He sits up and looks at her confused.

"Lil, that's who you were describing, right?" Wally asks.

"Uh, yeah, right." He agrees, laying back down.

"Well I better be getting home. See ya later." She stands, waves goodbye and heads home.

"Huh, did I really describe Lil? I thought for sure I was describing Wally." He shrugs. "Oh well, guess I'll just have to go with it, even if it is weird that I'm creating a fake girlfriend that's basically Lil." He continues to watch the clouds for a while, until a caterpillar falls out of the tree, landing on his face. He sits up, grabbing the caterpillar and holding it in his hand. A thoughtful expression crosses him. "When was the last time I ate a bug?" He asks himself with a grin.

"Four days ago." Lil's voice comes, startling him. She walks from behind the tree. "And that time better extend to thirty three days if you know what's good for you." She crosses her arms, slyly smiling. Phil sheepishly laughs.

"I-I wasn't going to eat it. I was just wondering." He swears. He places the caterpillar on the tree. "See, he's nice and safe now, not in my stomach." He stands up, hands up in defense. Lil just shakes her head, laughing lightly.

"Come on, it's almost dinner time." She tells her brother, the two of them start walking. "So how's Petunia? You finally get a good picture using Wally?"

"Not sure." He honestly says. "Guess we'll have to see tonight."

"Let's just pray mom doesn't want to meet her." Lil laughs. Phil's eyes go wide, mouth agape.

"Crud! You're right! What if she does want to meet her?" He panics.

"Don't worry." She reassures him. "If that happens we can make plans for a time after the month is up and say she broke up with you once the month is up."

"Why does she have to break up with me?" He points his thumb at himself. "Why can't I break up with her?"

"It's more believable that way." She simply explains. Phil stops and looks at his sister walk away.

"Hey, wait, what do you mean by that?" He chases after her. Later, after dinner, some light grilling from his mom and faked embarrassment mixed with real embarrassment by Phil.

"Not bad. You really brought Petunia to life." Lil says, impressed. "But she doesn't sound much like Wally at all." She nudges him with her elbow. "You decide to come up with your ideal girlfriend?" She teases.

"Nah. She's just some girl I know." He vaguely responds.

"Oh, who is it?" She questions with a teasing smile. "Is it a girl you like at school?"

"You'll just have to figure that out yourself." Phil smiles.

"Come on, you can tell me." She insists. "I won't tease you... much."

"Alright, I'll tell you... after the month is over." He laughs and continues to deny Lil an answer as she begs.

"Fine, be that way." Lil crosses her arms in a huff. "But I will figure out who it is." She pokes him in the chest before going into her room. "And you better not forget to shower before bed!" She yells through the door. Phil goes to his own.

"Good luck with that." Phil chuckles to himself, grabbing his pajamas, heading to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>"Alright you two. Try not to burn the house down." Betty tells Tommy and Dil as she leaves.<p>

"They're microwavable dinners. I don't think you have to worry about that." Tommy assures her, locking the door behind her. He returns to the kitchen where Dil was in the process of microwaving his dinner. "The Betty factor is gone." He announces.

"Good, I've been waiting for a chance to talk to you all day." Dil says.

"What about?" He skeptically asks.

"About you." He states. "What was with you at the Java Lava today?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, you know what I mean. Why did you run and hide when Angelica came in like she was some brain munchin zombie?" The microwave beeps and he ignores it, waiting for Tommy to respond. It beeps again.

"Aren't you gonna get your food?" He hopefully asks, trying to change the subject. Dil quickly opens and shuts the microwave, ceasing the beeps.

"I thought you were getting over the whole Angelica thing."

"I-I am." Tommy claims. "It's just that... when I saw Angelica I kinda... panicked." He admits.

"Dude, you're going to have to face her sooner or later. And I think Susie made her go to the Java Lava to hang with us for a bit is so that she could face us and get over it herself."

"I know." He groans, sliding against the fridge, sitting on the floor. "But I don't think I'm ready to face Angelica. The moment I saw her I instantly imagined her standing there... topless." Dil sits down next to his brother, placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "I think seeing her has ruined all my progress."

"Tommy, come on. You were going to see her at school tomorrow anyways." Tommy looks at him.

"Yeah, but then I would have had another day of preparation and dealing with me." He brings his knees up and wraps his arms around them. "Now it's ten times worse. I can't stop seeing her and feeling so... weird and wrong."

"It's just going to take some time. The feeling will diminish and you'll get over it."

"I know, I know." He sighs. "I just... I need to avoid Angelica until I feel comfortable about this."

"Well then how about some microwavable fish sticks to help you get comfortable?" Dil nudges him with is elbow. Tommy gets a slight smile.

"I thought fish sticks had hyper advanced mutant probes that invade your mind, stealing your knowledge?"

"That's only the fish sticks at the school cafeteria." He laughs. The phone rings. "You get that, I'll prepare the sticky fish." They both stand and Tommy goes out to the living room and answers the phone.

"Hello, Pickles residence. Tommy Pickles speaking." He greets.

"Hiya champ." Stu says on the other side of the phone.

"Hey dad. How did the convention go?"

"Oh it went great!" He exclaims. "My animatronic rabbit blew up but a representative of an international company happened to be trying out my earmuffs at the time. He was so impressed by them he wants me and your mom to fly out to New York this week to make a deal."

"That's great dad." Tommy excitedly says. "Does that mean Dil and I get the house for the whole week?"

"What? We get the house for the whole week? Sweet!" Dil cheers from the kitchen.

"No. A week by yourselves is longer than we feel comfortable with. Since Charlotte and Drew are going to be out of town on business this week as well, Angelica is going to be staying over for the week to keep an eye on you."

"W-wha..." Tommy whispers, eyes go wide as his grip on the phone loosens.

"Hey T, are we getting the house for the week or what?" Dil asks, joining Tommy in the living room. He notices Tommy's shocked state and the phone dropping out of his hand. Dil dives and catches the phone before it hit the ground.

"Tommy? Tommy?" Their dad's voice comes over the phone.

"Uh, hey dad." Dil answers. "Tommy's gone catatonic. You mind telling me what's got him?"

"I told him that we'll be gone for the next week and Angelica is staying with you during that time cause her parents will be out of town as well." He's greeted by silence, Tommy still standing there with shock, Dil with concern for his brother. "Dil? Everything alright?"

"Uh, yeah, everything's fine." He shakes his head. "It's just that, do you think it's such a good idea to leave Angelica in charge? I mean, wouldn't it be a better idea for us to stay over at Lil and Phil's or Kimi and Chuckie's while Angelica stays over at Susie's place or something?"

"Sorry, but we already discussed it with Drew and Charlotte. Besides, she won't actually be in charge. It's more like you three are watching each other." Stu reassures him.

"You know she won't see it that way." Dil says.

"Well you'll just have to make due. Betty will still come over to check on you. Take care, and make sure you wake up for school tomorrow." He bids him farewell, hanging up. Dil hangs the phone up.

"Tommy? You in there?" He tentatively asks, waving his hand in front of his brothers face.

"A week... a whole week... in the same house..." He weakly says, almost like a whimper.

"If I didn't know the reason you're freaking I'd suggest that aliens were currently trying to take control of your mind." Dil tries to joke. In a zombie like fashion, Tommy moves over to the couch and falls onto it face first, laying there.

"I... I can't do this... I can't..." Dil kneels down by his head.

"Listen to me T." He starts lecturing his brother. "You can do this. You can and you will. Nobody is as determined and strong willed as you are. You've never let anything stop you or get in your way before and I won't let this stop you from functioning at your normal level of capacity, which is way above average human capacity. Do you know why? Because you are Tommy Pickles, the bravest kid I know. You are a natural born leader. Nothing can ever fell you. You're smart, charismatic, quick on your feet, and you've always got a plan." Tommy lay there listening to his brother rant at him. "We've been through much worse than this. You've gotten us through much worse than this. Who lead us when we drove the ostriches and faced those rustlers? Who got Susie to New York in time for her show when everyone else lost hope? Who's the super talented director and screenwriter with an eye for fashion? Not Chuckie. Not Lil. Not even me. It's you." Tommy sits up, determination burning within him.

"You're absolutely right Dil." He stands, confident. "I can and I will do this."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm Tommy Pickles!" He shoots his fist into the air and Dil starts celebrating, dancing around, making dolphins sounds. Tommy gives him a look. "Dil, please, you're ruining the moment."

"Sorry."


	6. The Week of Chaos Part 1

Monday

"WHAT?" Angelica screams, unbelieving. "You can't be serious!"

"There's nothing we can do." Drew, her father, says. "Me and your mother both have important business trips that can't be changed or rescheduled."

"But-but-but can't I just stay here by myself? I'm thirteen years old." She pleads. "I can take care of myself."

"This isn't up for discussion." Charlotte, her mother, sternly says. "You are staying over with Tommy and Dil for the week and that's final." Her cell phone rings and she answers it. "Jonathan? … Yes I'm about to leave right now. Did you get those papers I faxed you?" She walks away from her husband and daughter.

"But they got to stay home alone when their parents left Friday, why can't I?" Angelica begs, complaining.

"That was just for the weekend." Drew explains. "If we were only going to be gone a few days we'd let you stay. But your Uncle Stu and Aunt Didi are going to be gone for the week like we are sweetie." He places his hand on her shoulder, smiling. "We don't want you to be home alone, and Tommy and Dil need someone to look after them."

"This is totally unfair." She declares, crossing her arms, pouting. He and Charlotte start to exit the house, carrying their suit cases and travel bags.

"Make sure you pack plenty of clothing and get over to their house before heading off to school today." Her dad waves, the door closing behind him. Angelica furrows her brow, frowning, still pouting.

"I have to spend a whole week with those stupid Pickles preteens." She mutters to herself. "So unfair. I'm thirteen, I should be able to stay by myself." She goes up to her room, picks out two dozen outfits, a couple different pairs of shoes (never know what look you'll need to have or when you'll need to change), a weeks worth of unmentionables (polite way of saying bras and panties), and stuffs them into a rolling suitcase, along with her toothbrush, body washes, shampoos, conditioners, and makeup.

Over at the other Pickles residence, Betty has left after making sure Tommy and Dil were up and eating breakfast. After being sure Betty was gone, Tommy gets up from the table and starts frantically pacing.

"I can't do this. I can't do this." Tommy says.

"Yo T, calm down." Dil tells his brother. "What happened to all that bravado you had last night?"

"I was just pumped up from that little speech you gave." He stops pacing and lightly hits his head against the wall. "But now that I've come back to reality, I know I can't do this." Dil gets up and grabs his brother, turning him away from the wall.

"Listen Tommy, you're a Pickles. That means you're stubborn. You'll push through this. You'll hang around Angelica and feel incredibly awkward and weird."

"This is supposed to make me feel better?" He asks with half closed eyes.

"The images will flash and it'll drive you crazy." Dil continues, taking a few steps from Tommy.

"Seriously, not helping." Dil turns back to Tommy.

"But trust me when I say that after a while, it will fade away and won't bother you any more." He reassures, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tommy smiles.

"Thanks D." They hear the front door swing open and the familiar yelling of Angelica.

"Alright you preteens, listen up!" She yells. Tommy glances towards the door to the garage.

"If I leave on my bike now, I could make it to school and be only ten minutes late." He comments. Dil steps between him and the door, arms crossed, frowning. "Kidding." Angelica comes storming into the kitchen.

"Our parents are out of town for the week and we all have to stay together so let's get a few things straight." She starts barking at them. "First off I'm the oldest so I'm in charge. Secondly, you are not to bother me at all while I'm here, no matter what the reason. Third, I am not doing any cooking or cleaning what so ever, that is you twos job. And you better not cook anything weird or disgusting."

"Ease up there loose laces, no one is in charge." Dil says. Angelica gives him a death glare.

"You better watch that tongue of yours Pickles." She threatens. "I won't let any comments about _that_ go by unpunished."

"Whoa, where's this coming from? You were just joking about it with the rest of us yesterday."

"That was just so Susie would leave me alone. But if I hear so much as one word about it, you will pay dearly." She growls evilly.

"I understand. It's still a touchy subject for you. But it's no reason to go all agro on us. Joking and laughing is a great way to get over something and put it behind you." He gets a slight smile. "It would also help if you would buy a swimming suit that actually fits." She approaches him, looking like a lion ready to pounce.

"You better keep it to yourself" She pokes him in the chest, "or your precious little fish is going to go for a swim in the sewers." She threatens. Dils eyes go wide and he takes a step back.

"Y-you wouldn't." He says, almost disbelieving. Angelica simply leaves the kitchen to take her bags upstairs to the spare bedroom. "Wow. I didn't think Angelica could get any scarier than she already is." He turns to look at Tommy but he's not there. "Tommy?" He opens the door to the garage and sees Tommy's bike is missing. Dil shakes his head.

Sometime later, at school, Dil's walking down the hall on his hands with his shoes on them. He ends up passing Angelica who simply ignores him before reaching his locker. He goes right-side up, slipping his shoes back onto his feet. Angelica rounds the hall corner, out of sight when Dil opens his locker and Tommy comes tumbling out. "So, how long you plan on avoiding Angelica like she's some sort of horrid beast out to rip you to shreds?"

"I'm not avoiding her." Tommy asserts, standing up, wiping himself off. "I just, uh... wanted to see if I could fit in your locker. Yeah, that's it." Dil shakes his head, putting his bag in it before shutting it.

"You can't dodge her forever you know. She is spending the week over at our place after all." He reminds his brother.

"You're right." He sighs. "I need to face this... just not right now. Maybe at dinner tonight."

"How about at lunch in five minutes?" Dil suggests.

"This is something that is better dealt with in the privacy and safety of our home." Tommy says, both of them heading towards the cafeteria. They get in line with their friends.

"I've been having the weirdest day." Phil tells them as they wait in line.

"What, you mean people aren't running in horror when the smell you coming?" Lil jests.

"Very funny." He dryly replies.

"I thought so." Kimi smirks. "Besides, I can actually smell what's for lunch without actually having it in front of me."

"Anyways, people have been acting strange all day." He continues. "They keep looking at me as I walk by as if I'm acting like Dil. Uh, no offense."

"Doing something completely unexpected or abnormal is bound to have that effect." Dil proudly smiles. "I take it as a compliment."

"And you smelling clean and herbal like Lil is strange for you." Tommy grins.

"It's the only freaking shampoo I can find." Phil growls, annoyed.

"I think all the other shampoos are just hiding in fear." Kimi laughs. Everyone else does so to, aside from Phil.

"I swear, Mrs. Hawthorn actually stopped me in the hall to ask if me and Lil switched places for the day."

"Are you serious?" Lil gapes. "Why on earth would she think that?"

"Aside from the fact that I smell like you, I apparently got a 96 on that pop quiz she gave us today and you got a 78." They get their lunches and Tommy spots Angelica at the popular table indoors so he starts to head for the outside tables, the others following, sitting at their table outside.

"Whoa, a 96?" Chuckie says. "Her quizzes were always the hardest. I was lucky if I managed an 85."

"I was lucky to get an 80." Kimi adds in.

"Uhg, I forgot to do the reading she wanted us to do and didn't know half of what was on there." Lil groans.

"I didn't do the reading either." Phil shrugs. "Guess that just means I'm smarter than you." He grins at his sister. She casts him a quick scowl.

"It was dumb luck, pure and simple."

* * *

><p>"Dinner wasn't so bad now was it?" Dil asks his brother, who was at the sink doing the dishes.<p>

"Considering the fact that we were in here and she was in the living room, no not at all." Tommy dryly replies.

"Details." He dismissively waves. "Point is that you were just fine and the whole thing will be forgotten next week. So long as nothing else happens that is." Tommy stops his washing and looks back at his brother with a raised eyebrow. "What? I'm just saying there's that possibility. Murphy is a relentless dude after all." Tommy shakes his head and returns to the dishes.

"Yeah, and there's the possibility that time traveling dolphins will take up residence in our pool." He sarcastically says.

"That is a possibility." Dil rubs his chin in thought. "They may come back with a message for me from our alien brothers, informing me of something of great importance."

"Right. An alien spaceship will come crashing down and unless you reach it first to help the alien, the government will capture it and the ship and study both extensively, dissecting the alien." He laughs.

"Be as sarcastic as you wish, nonbeliever, but the time will come when we will live side by side our alien brethren."

"Please. Ever since that time we tried to pull a prank on you because we thought you were pranking with the whole 'aliens making contact with you' thing, I believe in them. I just don't think they're as active as you believe them to be." Tommy explains.

"Maybe. Or maybe you just fail to see all the messages they send us."

"Or maybe you're just an idiot." Angelica says, coming into the kitchen, grabbing a soda from the fridge.

"Ye of little faith." Dil says.

"Ye of little brains." She replies, mean spirited. "There's no such thing as aliens. If you ever want to stop being the weird kid at school, you got to get that through your thick skull, and stop dressing and acting like such a freak."

"Lay off him Angelica." Tommy comes to his brothers defense. "Dil has the right to believe what he wants."

"And the right to be the social outcast that he is, his only friends being your loser friends or imaginary, with no chance of any girl ever liking him." She spits. "But I guess that's the result of being dropped on his head as a baby: being a total loser and freak."

"What is with you? You've never been this mean before." Dil asks.

"You want to know what's wrong? You two saw me, that's what's wrong." She growls. "And don't think for a second that I'm not onto you, planning on using this for revenge for everything I've done to you."

"Angelica, we have no intention of using this against you. We just want to forget it ever happened, just like you." Tommy promises her.

"You better keep this to yourself." She hisses, glaring at Tommy. "Because if you don't, you will pay dearly." She shifts her glare to Dil. "Both of you and your little freak fish." And with that she storms up to the spare room, her temporary residence.

"Wow, she really is bugging over this, even more so than you are." Dil says. Tommy finishes up the dishes, drying them off and putting them away.

"I'll say. I've never seen her so mad." Tommy agrees.

"I think it would be best if we avoided her, like you originally planned to do."

* * *

><p>"Is it Sarah?" Lil asks.<p>

"No." Phil answers.

"How about Hannah?"

"No." He answers, getting annoyed.

"Tiffany?"

"No!" He snaps. "I'm not going to tell you who it is if you just keep on guessing randomly like that."

"Maybe if you just told me already I wouldn't keep guessing. Oh, I know, it's Jacklyn."

"Arg." Phil growls. "Ok, look. I'll give you three guesses. Three. That's it. After that I will not tell you if you're right or wrong."

"What's to stop me from continually guessing and getting on your nerves until you crack and tell me?" Lil slyly asks. Phil smirks and holds up a picture of Lil kissing a cardboard cutout of one of the Sulky Boys. Her eyes go wide and she tries to snatch it from him but he holds it away. "Give me that!" She demands, wrestling with him on the couch, reaching for the picture, Phil holding her back. They end up rolling off the couch, Lil managing to get the picture, sitting on top of Phil. She proceeds to rip the picture to shreds. "You told me you trashed this picture."

"I did." He smiles. "But I printed off another copy." He laughs. "And there are plenty more where that came from." He pulls another out of his pocket, holding it to Lil. She takes it and crumples it up. Phil sits up, pushing his sister off of him. "I'll give you three guesses, for the month, and after that you no longer ask me who it is." She glares evilly at him while he smugly smiles. "You already know all about her. Shouldn't be to hard to guess who it is."

"Three guesses a day." She counteroffers.

"Three a week."

"Two a day."

"Once a day."

"Ah, deal." Lil smiles, shaking his hand. "I'm assuming we're going with our default bet."

"Even though I'm already suffering under your tyranny, I can't pass up two weeks allowance." Phil grins. "You'll never get it right."

"Is it Kate?"

"Nope. And that's your guess for the day." He gets up off the floor. "Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I have a shower to take using the shampoo and conditioner I bought today." He starts walking upstairs. "I refuse to smell like a girl, and I don't want any more teachers thinking we've switched places."

* * *

><p><span>Tuesday<span>

"Today is going to suck so much." Tommy groans. "I'm going to have to spend hours sitting there, watching Kimi, Lil, and Susie parade around in different outfits, giving my opinion of their fashion."

"You think you've got it bad?" Chuckie says to his best friend. They were sitting out in the outside commons area, during their free period. "I've got to make banana and onion smoothies everyday until Saturday. I'm going to deal with so many onions that my tear ducts are going to be dryer then the Mojave dessert."

"They're already sandier, with how heavily you were sleeping this morning." Kimi jests, her and Lil joining them at the table. "Almost didn't make it out of bed."

"I would have woke up on time if you didn't turn off my alarm clock." He pointedly tells her.

"Maybe next time you'll think twice about hiding my DB CD." She bites back.

"DB?" Tommy asks. Lil leans over and whispers to him.

"Dummi Bears." Lil whispers. "She uses that in public so people won't know she still likes them." Tommy understands, saying a silent 'oh'.

"You played the Happy Song for three hours straight! It was driving me crazy!" Chuckie exclaims. "I'm already suffering enough, having to do both my shifts and your shifts at the Java Lava for a whole month. I'm surprised I didn't end up throwing it away."

"If you did that, I'd have to get into your Armadillo Dave comic book collection." She passively says.

"You wouldn't." He gasps.

"And neither would you."

"So the whole thing is moot." Tommy says, "So how about we get back to the part where I was complaining about being Lil and Kimi's fashion slave?" He humorously asks.

"It's your own fault bro." Dil says, joining the group, his clothes inside out. "I warned you and you didn't listen." Tommy just rolls his eyes. Dil looks around. "Where's Phil?"

"Right here." Phil announces, joining the group. "Felt a real ripe n' loud one coming." He grins.

"Aw, gross." Kimi blanches, along with Lil. "You're going to make me lose my lunch."

"Made a comment about it and Lil told me if I was going to let it rip I had to go into the restroom. And it was a real good one." He laughs.

"I'm… sure it was." Lil says, disgusted.

"That one could have knocked a whole flock of buzzards off a gut wagon." He continues.

"Ok Phillip, that's enough." She rigidly says. "Remember our bet."

"Aw come on. You mean I can't even talk about disgusting stuff?"

"Please, no." Kimi gags. "I'm trying to keep my lunch down."

"Me and Chuckie feel your pain." Tommy sympathetically says.

"Not Chuckie. He's getting double allowance this month." Phil states, pointing his thumb over at Chuckie. "Speaking of which, how about we hit the arcade after school? I wanna avoid my mom as much as possible."

"Can't. Doing my double shifts to get my double allowance." Chuckie tells him.

"Tommy?" Phil hopefully says.

"I'd gladly be a slave to the arcade, but unfortunately I'm already Lil and Kimi's slave to fashion." Tommy jests.

"Guess it's just you and me Dil." He tells Tommy's little brother.

"I'm stoked you're inviting me along, but I already have plans to help the squirrels in our backyard with a little spectral problem." Dil explains.

"Looks like your on your own Phil." Lil states, as everyone gets up from the table, save for Phil, and starts heading to class, save for Lil who lingers behind. "It's not Nicole, is it?" She asks.

"What?" Phil asks, confused.

"Who you based your fake girlfriend on."

"Oh. No way. Chuckie's the one who likes her, not me. And that's your guess for the day." He stands. "Better luck tomorrow." Then they both head towards class.

"You mean Phil isn't using Wally as the source for his fake girlfriend?" Kimi asks from inside a changing room.

"Nope. And we have our usual bet going, and he'll win if I can't guess who it is by the end of the month." Lil explains, checking herself out in the top and skirt she had just put on.

"I'm still hung up on the whole 'Phil having a fake girlfriend' thing." Susie says, holding up a stylish shirt and jeans to herself, looking at her reflection in a mirror. "What do you think Tommy?"

"That looks nice, but those jeans would go better with the top Lil has on, along with that belt at your feet." Tommy critiques, pointing to said belt, sitting in a chair off to the side. "The fake girlfriend thing was mine and Dil's fault. But it does keep their mom distracted from learning about the bet and grounding them." Susie hands the jeans and belt to Lil and she holds them up to herself.

"Wow, you're right. That looks totally cute." Lil smiles.

"You should definitely try that on." Susie tells her. Lil nods in agreement and heads into a changing room, Kimi coming out in a short skirt and a top showing half of her stomach.

"Any idea as to who it is?" Kimi asks, checking herself out, doing a quick twirl. "Tommy?" She looks at him expectantly, who involuntarily swallows and blushes because from his vantage point he caught a glimpse of her purple panties, which in turn cause the image of Angelica to flash before him.

"Those seem a little... revealing, don't you think?" He nervously says, trying to keep himself calm and his face straight. She giggles in response.

"I know." She grins. "Just thought it'd be fun to see how you reacted."

"Quite teasing the poor boy." Susie lightly scolds, while sifting through the pile of clothes on the floor. "He's already your fashion slave. Cut him some slack."

"All I know is that it's not Wally." Lil says, still in the changing room. "He really brought Petunia to life, but his descriptions were a bit too vague. It could be anyone." Kimi sifts through the clothes and Susie goes into a changing.

"What about you Tommy?" Kimi asks. "Any ideas?" He doesn't respond and she looks back to see him looking away, his face red as a cherry. She then realizes, squatting the way she was, she was giving him a full view of her panties. She quickly stands up, blushing herself, holding the skirt down. Grabbing the nearest pair of pants, she quickly retreats into her changing room.

"Come on Tommy. You've got to at least have an idea of who it is." Susie says. Lil steps out in the pants and belt on now, checking herself out in the mirror.

"Well? What do you think?" Lil asks. She looks over at him, he managing to push his blush down just in time.

"Like I thought, those pants do look better with that top."

"I already knew that." She smirks, posing. "I mean about who Phil based his fake girlfriend on."

"I... don't really know." He scratches the back of his head. "I mean if you can't figure out who it is, what makes you think I can? You know him better than any of us."

"True." She nods. "I guess I'll just have to keep guessing and try to narrow it down."

"Instead of guessing randomly, how about thinking about the people Phil knows and see if any of them fit close to Petunia." Susie suggests.

"It's worth a shot." Lil agrees. Kimi steps out of her changing room, wearing the small shirt she went in with over an undershirt, and the small skirt over the pair of pants she randomly grabbed.

"What do you think guys?" She asks, striking a few poses.

"Wow, that looks great on you." Lil comments, with a hint of amazement.

"You'll definitely turn some heads with that." Tommy grins, giving her a thumbs up. Susie pokes her head over the changing room wall.

"Woo Wee! Girl, you are looking fine in that." Susie tells her. Kimi twirls, admiring herself in the mirror.

"I'd say having Tommy as our fashion slave is working out quite well already, if he's able to manage to pick out such a hot outfit as this." Kimi smirks.

"And the one he picked out for me is really cute." Lil agrees.

"Whelp, sounds like my services are no longer required. I think I'll be on my way." Tommy says, standing.

"Ah, ah, ah." Kimi tsks her finger at him. "Part of being our fashion slave is picking out an outfit for yourself."

"You have got to be kidding me." He groans.

"Come on Tommy. You want to look your best, don't you?" Lil asks, smirking.

"No, not really." He shrugs.

"Well too bad, cause we say you have too." Kimi tells him, poking him in the chest, a big grin on her face. "And we're going to help you pick it out."

Dil was relaxing on the couch, watching T.V., when the door opens. He looks over the back of the couch and sees Tommy standing there, all dressed up. He raises an eyebrow at him, snickering.

"Dude, Tommy, did you just get back from a hot date or something?" He asks him, trying not to laugh.

"Go ahead, laugh it up." Tommy dryly replies. "This was Lil and Kimi's idea. Apparently, part of being their fashion slave includes letting them pick out an outfit for me."

"And you decided to wear it home because?" Dil snickers some more. Tommy sighs.

"When I stepped out of the changing room, Lil swooped in and stole my clothes, running out of the store with them." Dil bursts out laughing, no longer able to control it. "Yeah, yeah. It's hilarious."

"Seriously? They stole your clothes?" He laughs some more. "Wow, they're gonna have a lot of fun at your expense."

"Keep it down you freak." Angelica orders, coming down the stairs, glaring at Dil. "It's bad enough that I have to be in the same house as you. I don't want to hear that grating sound you call a voice." She reaches the bottom of the stairs and notices Tommy. "Nice get up. Dress a loser up and they're still a loser." She heads back up the stairs. "You better keep the noise down, or else." She threatens, before turning the corner.

"Harsh." Dil simply says. "She's not letting go of it any time soon." Tommy lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "How you holding up there T?"

"I'm good." Tommy answers, knowing what Dil was asking. "Better than yesterday."

"See, I told ya bro." He smiles. He starts snickering again. "But seriously, they stole your clothes?" Tommy groans.

"I'm gonna go change."

Wednesday

Angelica had grabbed her lunch tray and headed over to the popular table.

"Angelica. Cute outfit." Savannah greets.

"What, this old thing?" Angelica smirks, gesturing to her clothes. "I got it on sale weeks ago." She dismisses, sitting down.

"You definitely pull it off." She compliments in her pseudo sweet tone.

"Thanks. And I love your outfit. Is that from the new LaMarr summer line?" She asks, taking a drink.

"Isn't even publicly available for another week." Savannah gloats. "I even got the limited LaMarr white bikini." Angelica starts, almost doing a spit take. She grabs a napkin and wipes her mouth.

"Y-You mean the one with silver trimming?" Angelica asks, a little nervous about the unexpected reminder of that bikini.

"That's the one." She haughtily responds. "And speaking of swimming, word is that your cousin recently got a swimming pool." Angelica casts a quick glance over at said cousin, who at the same time glances at her and their eyes meet. She looks away.

"It's just a rectangular hole filled with water. Pathetic really." She dismisses.

"As unimpressive as it may be, the fact remains that virtually no one here at school has a pool, aside from your cousin." Savannah explains.

"That's not true. There's... uh..." Angelica taps her chin in thought. "Well there's... um, no... uh... what about... no... didn't, uh... no he didn't... how about... no... Huh. I guess no one else does have a pool." She shrugs. "Still, I don't see why Tommy having a pool matters at all."

"Well, as you know, summer is less than a month away. And as much of a generous service it is on my part to let the little people bask in the perfection and epitome of beauty and popularity that is me at the public pool; being able to relax and enjoy a pool in privacy would be most beneficial" She gets a smirk, "for the both of us." Angelica raises an eyebrow at this.

"Do tell."

"You are the newest addition to my inner circle of teenage popularity." She starts to 'sweetly' explain. "As such, that makes your position the weakest and more vulnerable." She 'sympathetically' places a hand on Angelica's shoulder. "Now, I'd hate it if anything were to happen that would cause you to lose such a status." Angelica frowns, understanding the veiled threat. "However, I can guarantee a stronger and more secure position." Angelica shrugs off her hand.

"Let me guess, in order for you to do that, you want me to convince Tommy to let you use the pool."

"Just me and the few select within my inner circle." Savannah takes a bite of her food while Angelica contemplates her predicament.

"Why don't you try to convince him yourself?" Angelica asks, wanting to avoid talking to her cousin, let alone trying to get him to do a favor for her.

"I would, but ever since your 13th birthday, I doubt he'd do anything for me." She tells her. "Unlike us popular kids, who would have forgiven and forgotten such an incident by now, he probably hasn't. Otherwise, I would have done so myself." Angelica sighs in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose briefly.

"Alright." She sighs again. "I'll talk to him and see what I can do."

"I know you won't disappoint." Savannah smiles triumphantly.

"I can't believe your chores for this week included vacuuming the house." Tommy says, while in the process of vacuuming the living room.

"Maybe mom and dad thought it'd be another punishment for catching the school copying machine on fire." Dil says, lounging on the couch, watching Tommy vacuum, twirling a pen, grinning. "Don't forget, you'll also have to get the stairs." He laughs.

"Fun." He dryly responds. He starts vacuuming behind the couch when Dil accidentally flings the pen and it hits Tommy in the head. He stops the vacuum and picks up the pen. Something clicks and he glares over at his brother, who was smiling sheepishly.

"Uh, incoming?" He sheepishly laughs.

"You added that to your chore list, didn't you?" Tommy asks, with a smile and a raised eyebrow, holding the pen up.

"It was more of a... contribution to an already exquisite piece of literature than an addition." Dil explains. "There's a huge difference really."

"How does a three second head start sound?" He offers, his smiler bigger.

"It sounds like five seconds you would need in order to catch me." Dil retorts, with a grin of his own. Tommy jumps over the back of the couch, Dil quickly moving out of the way. "You ain't catching this Alien!" He taunts, quickly running away into the kitchen.

"You're not going to get away from this Hunter this time!" He declares, getting up from the couch and proceeding to chase Dil. A sock ball comes flying towards Tommy and he quickly ducks underneath it. "Your acidic alien spit isn't going to work on me." They play Mutant, Alien, Zombie, Hunter for a while, playing several rounds. They were in round nine, tied 4 to 4, deciding one final round to see who wins the day. They had ended up in the back yard, Tommy was chasing Dil with a sock bomb. "Electric bomb." Tommy yells, throwing it and Dil dives into the pool to escape it but it ended up in the water with him. Dil pops his head up, grinning.

"Ha! You missed!" He brings up his dart gun and shoots Tommy. "I win!"

"I don't think so." Tommy grins back. "I called that out as an electric bomb. Look where you are." He points out. Dil looks to see the sock bomb in the water with him. "I win."

"Nicely done bro." Dil congrats, getting out of the water. He extends his arms. "How about a celebratory hug?"

"No thanks. I rather like staying dry." He chuckles. "You better get yourself changed and dried off."

"Come on, just one hug?" Dil starts to walk towards Tommy.

"You hug me, and you're gonna get it." Tommy warns, backing away.

"Pleeeeeaaaaasssseeee." He begs, walking faster towards his brother.

"Don't make me shoot you." He holds up his dart gun.

"That's a price I'm willing to pay for brotherly love." Dil claims, running after Tommy who runs away, shooting his gun at him.

"Stay away, you evil water beast!" Tommy laughs. He runs into the house and runs right into Angelica, knocking them both to the ground. Dil takes advantage of this and tackles Tommy, giving him a big wet hug.

"Watch where you're going dunderhead." Angelica growls, Tommy not hearing her.

"Feel the love Bro!" Dil exclaims. "Feel it!"

"Ok, ok. I feel it." Tommy laughs, shrugging Dil off of him.

"Ahem." Angelica clears her throat, her arms crossed with a light scowl, both of her cousins looking up at her.

"Sorry A-cup. Are we in your way?" Dil humorously asks, standing up along with Tommy, who nervously swallows, unnoticed by Angelica. Her eye twitches at Dil's jibe, and she has to restrain herself from hurling a string of insults and threats at him.

"No." She replies, trying to keep a calm, steady voice. "I just need to have a word with Tommy, alone." Dil and Tommy exchange glances, Tommy's worried, Dil's intrigued.

"Sure." Dil shrugs, walking past her. "I need to go dry off and change anyway." They watch Dil leave the kitchen before Angelica turns back to Tommy, trying her best not to give him a death glare. Tommy proceeds to close the sliding glass door and head towards the fridge.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Tommy asks, grabbing a soda, offering his cousin one which she accepts. She opens her soda, taking a drink and looking away from him.

"Yes... ahem, well..." She starts slowly, leaning against the counter, Tommy leaning against the fridge. "This isn't easy for me to say."

"It's ok. Take your time." He says, his worry being replaced by curiosity. Angelica gives a frustrated sigh.

"I... realize that I might have been a little... harsh towards you and Dil after... well after last Friday."

"That's putting it mildly." He dryly says under his breath. Though Angelica still hears him.

"This is hard enough as it is without your witty remarks Pickles." She growls and scowls at him. He raises his hands in defense.

"Sorry, sorry. Please, continue." Tommy apologizes. Angelica sighs, looking away again, taking another drink.

"After... well after what happened, all of you seeing me... exposed... I've just been feeling upset and confused." She starts to explain. "It's one thing that the others saw it, but you and Dil... you guys are family and that... that just makes things weird."

"Angelica-" He starts, but Angelica holds up her hand, stopping him.

"Let me finish." She growls and scowls again. Tommy shuts his mouth, holding up his hands in defense again. She takes a deep breath, calming herself down. "I know I'm not the nicest cousin around, and I tend to pick on you and your los... your friends. And I know that you would never use something like this against me. But I know that if this had happened to Kimi, Lil, or even Susie, I would hold it over their head as long as I possibly could." She pauses to take a drink of her soda. "I guess that I was just... paranoid that you would decide to drop your nice guy act and do what I would do. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm... I'm s... sor... That I'm sorr..." She struggles to say the word, until finally, "sorry for the way I've been acting." Tommy places his drink down and walks up to Angelica, placing his hand on her shoulder. She looks up to see him softly smiling.

"It's alright Angelica. I understand." He removes his hand. "You were buggin' over what happened. To tell you the truth, I was kind of buggin myself. You don't need to apologize."

"Thanks Tommy." Angelica smiles back at him. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd accept my apology so readily."

"After a heartfelt speech like that?" He quizzically laughs. "I think you've eared it. I know how tough it is for you to admit to any wrongdoing or faults. And I gotta admit, that was one wicked dive you did." He grins.

"Of course it was. I told you guys I could dive better than Susie." She claims. "So, now that we got that behind us, do you think I could ask you a favor?" Tommy's smile quickly falls into a frown.

"Really?" He says, dumbstruck. "You went through all of that, the apology, the heartfelt speech, just so you could ask me a favor?" He lets out a frustrated sigh. "I should have figured there was an ulterior motive to this." He looks up at her. "You really had me fooled there."

"Really, I meant what I said. I'm sorry for the way I've been acting." Angelica assures him.

"Uh huh." He says, arms crossed, not convinced. "How about we skip to the part where you tell me what you want."

"Fine. Don't believe me." She huffs.

"What do you want Angelica?" He asks impatiently.

"Well, you see, Savannah heard how your pool had been finished and-"

"Let me guess." Tommy interrupts her. "She wants you to convince me to let her and her friends use the pool."

"Just her and the select few that are within her inner circle." She tells him.

"And you'll become part of her inner circle if you manage to convince me?"

"Please Tommy." She pleads. "This is my chance to get a more influential and permanent position of popularity."

"Uh huh." He dryly says.

"Imagine what I could do for you and your loser fri- I mean your friends." She promises.

"The answer is no Angelica." Tommy picks up his soda. "I don't like Savannah or her friends. They're uncaring and mean, even more so than you can be at times." Angelica scowls at that insult towards her. "You remember what she tried to do to you on your 13th birthday." He takes a drink of his soda and starts to walk out of the kitchen. "You're family Angelica, and as such you're welcome to use the pool, despite your attempts to manipulate me. But Savannah and her so called friends are not welcome." With that, he leaves Angelica to fume in the kitchen, not giving her a chance to respond with a counter argument.

"Whoa, harsh dude." Dil says to Tommy, getting out of his eavesdropping position by the doorway, following Tommy to the couch. "You shut her down so readily even after she goes through the trouble of apologizing."

"False apology." He responds. "She didn't mean a word of it."

"Sincere or not T, Angelica almost never apologizes. And when she does, she struggles just to say the words." Dil sympathizes with their cousin.

"I'm not going to let Angelica manipulate me into letting someone as mean and cold hearted as Savannah into using our pool." Tommy says.

"Looks like you are capable of dropping your nice guy act." Dil simply states.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He looks crossly at his younger brother.

"Your cousin has been traumatized and embarrassed, given you what may or may not have been a sincere apology for her recent behavior, and turns to you to help her with her current social standings and you just flat out say no." Dil shakes his head. "For shame."

"Were she asking to let anyone else use the pool, I'd more than likely agree. But I'm not going to agree to let someone who lacks a conscience or any sense of morality use our pool."

"Alright. No final decision yet. Sleep on it and we'll continue on the morrow." With that, Dil leaves his brother on the couch to head to his room.


End file.
